Title: Waiting
Author: Amm (SoulSeeker)
Pairing: Asazuki Kousuke/Takeuchi Rio
Fandom: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna
Theme: #2—news; letter
Rating: For Everyone (PG)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Spiral. I am just playing 'Barbie' with them, cause god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.
Summary: And so, they would continue to wait…there wasn't much else they could do.

The first story of thirty… enjoy xD

The rain fell hard against the sidewalks of Osaka that night; the sound was as beautiful as music to some, yet as horrid as nails on a chalkboard to others…unless of course, you were Kousuke Asazuki, in which you really could've cared less about harmless falling water.

"Man! Today of all days," the red head muttered in frustration, as he glanced up to the sky from which the rain fell. "I hope his flight wasn't delayed…"

He ran as if there wasn't even any ground below him, and finally slowed down to a jog, panting now, as the local hospital came into view – his destination. He slowly approached it and caught sight of a young stray cat that was innocently sniffing at his feet. He looked up to Kousuke with a pair of the most shimmering golden eyes he had ever seen.

"Hey little guy," he said smiling. He knelt down and held out his hand, letting the cat observe it to its heart's content. "Sorry, I'm not Rutherford, you know—I can't magically summon dried fish out of my coat pocket."

Kousuke chuckled, letting the feline climb up his arm to his face, and he began to nuzzle it. He was warm, and he wouldn't have minded if he had just stayed there forever—however he did notice the time on his watch, and he was already running late.

"All right, all right," he said giggling, as the cat purred. "I have to go okay? Go on and give that cute act to some other gullible human."

The cat licked Kousuke's cheek, almost as if he could understand him, and jumped off gracefully, obeying his commands. He sighed, standing up, and finally was able to do a fast-paced walk into the hospital. He went directly to the front desk, which luckily had been void of any lines or masses of annoying people to deal with.

"Hello…erm, I need to see Miss Takeuchi of room 204 please," Kousuke said, as politely as his ego would let him.

The woman at the desk turned around and just smiled. "Ah yes, Miss Rio," she replied. "You must be Mr. Asazuki. She's been expecting you—in fact she just called a few minutes ago to ask if you had come in yet. You can go on up and see her."

Kousuke sighed exasperatedly and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it figures," he replied. "I'm running late and she's already nagging at me, that spoiled brat…" He shook his head and began to walk away. "Thanks."

The nurse waved at him, as Kousuke began to power-walk up the escalators, passing everyone in front of him, up to the second floor.

"204, 204…" he muttered, glancing at the room numbers. "Aha!"

He read the sign on the door which said 'Rio Takeuchi' under the 'Patient' field, making sure it was the right room, and then he knocked on the door. "Hey princess! Open up, it's time to go get your piano-playing sweetheart from the airport!" he exclaimed.

Rio had opened the door swiftly the second he finished his sentence, giving Kousuke a small shock. She had a glare on her face and she was all dressed and ready to go pick up Eyes from the airport from his 11:00pm flight, just as they had agreed.

"Well come on, let's go," he said, motioning for her to come out. "We're already going to be –"

She suddenly shoved a piece of paper at his chest without saying a word, and Kousuke could've sworn he saw tears in her eyes. She walked back inside and sat on her hospital bed, as the red-haired teen blinked in confusion, bending down to pick up the paper that had now fallen to the ground. He noticed that it looked like much a letter, as he slowly and carefully unfolded it, keeping an eye on Rio's facial expression, since it seemed to be the only way she was communicating for now. He followed her inside and shut the door behind him as he glanced over the paper.

It was hardly a letter – very few words were written on it, and he could see now what had gotten her so upset. He rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh. " 'Tour taking longer than expected…please don't expect me back for another week, and I'm sorry I've been out of contact. I promise to call soon with details…' " Kousuke read mockingly. "That bastard." He crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash can with an angry and annoyed look on his face.

"Six weeks! Six weeks he's been gone on that damn tour, and now it's going to be seven!" Rio exclaimed. "I mean really! He can play the piano just as well in Japan as any other place, so I just don't understand why he has to go away forever to do it!"

Her voice got weaker and began to tremble, as she wrapped her arms around her knees and pressed her face against them in an attempt to hide her watery eyes. Kousuke walked over to her and sat next to her on the bed.

"Hey come on, don't cry," he said. "You know I can't cheer people up to save my life…"

Rio looked up at him, wiping away the few tears she had shed. "Yeah…you're right," she said with a smirk.

"Was that a smile I saw?" Kousuke asked coyly.

She stuck her tongue out at him with a playful smile on her face. "Maybe…" she replied. She had to admit, he was amusing, and no matter what anyone said, he was good at making people feel better – even when he was just being his regular idiot self.

He moved back about a foot or so on the bed so that he could comfortably lean against the wall, as he gave Rio a pat on the head, chuckling. The girl was cute when she wasn't busy being annoying.

"So where's Ryoko?" Rio asked. "Wasn't she supposed to come here with you?"

"Oh yeah," Kousuke replied. "I forgot to mention, she has a big track meet tomorrow early in the morning, so she said she couldn't make it."

She nodded. "Oh," she said. "That's…understandable. I guess it's just us then…"

He just shrugged. "Unless you want me to leave," he said.

"Don't. You'll just catch a cold and then get me sick later," she said, looking outside at the rain, which showed no signs of stopping.

He couldn't help but chuckle again. "Yeah right – and then you'd be stuck in this hospital even longer," he said. "Those hunters don't let up on you, do they?"

"Tch…at least I'm alive," she said smugly. She fell back onto the bed, grabbing the fluffy pillow that was on it to hug like a teddy bear – she was definitely tired.

Kousuke smirked. "Yup…we Blade Children are like cockroaches…you can step on us, but we always come back," he said.

Rio simply sat back up, raising an eyebrow at him with a skeptical look. "Did you just call me a cockroach?"

He blinked, trying to look as innocent as possible as he lightly scratched the back of his head. "…No?"

"Yes you did! I can't believe you, you jerk!" Rio laughed, as she took the pillow she had been hugging and launched it at Kousuke. He easily caught it and set it on his lap, comfortably resting his arms on top of it.

"Thanks!" he said, with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Hey! Give me back my pillow!" she demanded.

"No way! Besides, you were the one who gave it to me!" Kousuke reminded her with a laugh. The girl folded her arms and growled.

"Fine! Take the pillow!" she replied mockingly with a smile. She approached him and laid her head right on the pillow, making Kousuke move his arms out of the way.

He simply shrugged, seeming completely unfazed. They both remained dead silent, and for a while, all that could be heard was the sound of the falling rain. Rio turned and laid on her stomach, looking up at Kousuke, and he felt almost surprised, as if it was the first time he had ever really seen her eyes.

"Do you think he'll come back, Kousuke?" she asked softly.

"Rutherford? Of course!" he replied. "He's got to."

She frowned, having expected no other reply out of him. "You don't think he's running away?"

Kousuke paused, unsure of exactly how to reply, and unconsciously began to lightly play with her pigtails, slowly combing them out with his hand. "Maybe…but even if he is, he won't be able to do it for long," he said. "You know that."

She nodded; they had talked about this before. "True…" she replied. "I guess we have nothing to do but wait…"

"Yep," he said with a sigh. "After all, it's not like we're going anywhere."

"Mmhmm…so we keep on waiting…"

"Yep…for hope…salvation…"

"For Eyes…"