A/N: This one-shot is not related to my other City Hunter stories. I just had to write this one because a friend of mine forced me to. _
I will get back to my other stories as soon as I am completely healthy again. And that will probably be October. Thank you for your private messages and your reviews as well. I appreciate it very, very much. :)
PS: All the very best, Neha. And thank you, ScriptAngel, for the never ending support. ^_^

A Deck of Cards, A Hot Fantasy & A Dream

"Ryo…", Kaori blushed, "I… am not sure if I want to play this game anymore"
"Ha! You're backing off now because you know you are going to lose"
"No! I am not backing off or anything… I…"
"Don't blame me on this one, Kaori-chan. I had told you that no one can beat me at this game. And what did you say?", Ryo imitated her perfectly, "Hmph. I am not afraid of a big mouth like you"
"Well…", Kaori said, trying not to lose her temper, "I didn't know you were going to make me play STRIP POKER!"

The City Hunter duo sat comfortably in the drawing room of their apartment on a leisurely Saturday evening. Well, one of them was comfortable. Kaori tried her best to cover her now exposed legs. She kept pulling her white shirt down to her knees, but it would just go back up again. She was sitting opposite to Ryo on the mat in their drawing room. She looked down at her legs. Although she had pulled her legs beneath herself and was sitting in a typical Japanese fashion, the shirt reached only her mid thigh. She had always had such beautiful, long legs. She thought to herself,
'It's not that I am embarrassed of my body or something, but this is just… Thankfully, Ryo isn't interested in seeing me like this. But then, why did he dare me to play strip poker? Could it be that he plans to… No, no, no. He wouldn't dare! Besides, it's not like I have any effect on him. Oh, god. What am I thinking? Focus on the game, Kaori. You have lost the first round already'

Ryo studied his cards again. He was still fully clothed and had won the first round. He realized that Kaori was feeling uncomfortable and shifting around awkwardly. He stared at whatever could be seen of Kaori's slender, creamy thighs through a minute gap between his cards. 'Damn', he thought, 'Must. Keep. Calm. I don't want her to feel disgusted by me the very first time I am hitting on her. If this is what a little flash of her legs does to me, I bet a full-fledged view will…'
As if on instinct, Ryo drooled and his face twisted into his patent lecherous grin. Kaori looked up from her cards and was about to say something when she saw Ryo gagging his shoulders and grinning. She blushed deeply and scolded him,
"Ryo! What's with that face?!"
He snapped out of his fantasy and said in confusion,
"Th-uh-that-that's my poker face?"
Kaori narrowed her eyes,
"No. It's your mokkori face! That's it. I am not playing with you, pervert"
Kaori stood up and picked her pants up from the floor. Ryo's mouth opened in awe as he took in the sight of his partner's completely bare legs. He knew that her legs were shapely, but… even after all these years, her smooth and perfect legs left him awestruck. With much effort, he shifted his gaze back to his cards and said,
"All right. You can quit the game if you admit that you lost"
Kaori smirked,
"I am not doing that"
Ryo said casually,
"It's fine. I understand that you are intimidated by me"
He smiled mentally as Kaori bent her knees and sat down in front of him. She said,
"Let's see what you got, punk"
Ryo looked at her in surprise,
"But, I haven't even stripped yet"
Kaori fainted with her arms stretched.

"Damn it!", Kaori threw her cards in front of herself when she lost the second round. Ryo exclaimed happily,
"Ryo-chan won again! It's my lucky day!"
Kaori looked at him in anticipation. Ryo said indifferently,
"You know the drill"
Kaori sighed and unbuttoned her shirt carefully. Ryo watched patiently through the corner of his eye. He felt let down when he saw that Kaori was wearing a camisole. He looked at the deck of cards as he shuffled them. He couldn't help peeking back at her though.
'Even though she is wearing a camisole, I can see more of her legs now. And her shoulders, her arms… I am on my way to mokkori heaven!'
Ryo looked at Kaori's face. She seemed embarrassed. Her cheeks were red and she put her clothes on her lap. She didn't even look Ryo in the eye. He looked down at the cards again and smiled to himself. He was up to something again.

"Yes! I won!", Kaori clapped her hands after she won the third round, "Can I put my clothes back on now?"
"No, dummy", Ryo said as he took off his shirt. He tossed it away and was now naked above the waist. Kaori said,
"Hmph. Who cares? I am going to win anyway"
She beamed at him happily. That smile somehow always melted his heart.

"I won! Again!", Kaori jumped in joy. She realized in a nanosecond that she wasn't fully clothed and resumed her hostile stance with a deep blush on her face. She cleared her throat. Ryo shed his pants and asked her,
"Why are you so happy?"
"Because I am winning", Kaori shuffled the cards. Ryo asked,
"Or is it because I am stripping right in front of you?"
He regretted saying that as soon as a 10000 ton hammer hit him in the face. Kaori fumed,
"I have no interest in witnessing a shameless idiot stoop down even further!"

"Straight flush! Yes!", Kaori declared. "Take that!", she pointed her finger at Ryo who looked a tad bit disturbed. She asked with concern,
"Ryo, what's wrong?"
He said happily,
"Oh, nothing. You won! Yay!"
He looked for the remaining deck of cards, thinking,
'I messed up this time. But how did I give her the wrong cards? I…'
"Show me your cards", Kaori said doubtfully. Ryo tried not to panic. Before he could do anything, Kaori bent over and snatched the cards from his hand. She looked at them in surprise.
"This is… full house. You won. Why did you say that I won?"
Ryo stared at her, not knowing what to say. He was also slightly mystified at the very small distance between them. She scolded him,
"Ryo, why did you do this? This is not fair!"
He tried to lighten the tension between them. He said jokingly,
"I didn't know you wanted to strip so badly"
She smacked him on the head,
"This is not about stripping! This is about having a fair game. I would have understood if you cheated to make yourself win, but why…"
She paused as if she realized something she had missed all this time. She said sadly,
"I see. You didn't want to have to see me strip anymore. Ryo, I understand how repulsive I…"
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt Ryo's hands cupping her face. He said sincerely,
"I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable"
Kaori said in surprise,
"But…"
She couldn't say anymore as she felt his lips touching hers and her whole world closing in upon her. Her eyes were wide open in shock. This was not just unexpected, but enthralling. She had never felt so alive before. Her heart struggling to beat out of her chest, his hands on her cheeks, his lips tenderly on hers – she felt she would die if he stopped. To save herself, she kissed him back and felt him smile in the middle of their kiss. She put her arms around his neck and indulged herself in the kiss completely.

They broke away from the kiss with their arms still around each other. Ryo looked at her, summoning all his love for her into his eyes,
"If you are not comfortable with me doing this, just…"
She interrupted him,
"Ryo…"
He tried to appear happy, even though he thought he knew what she was going to say. He pulled away from Kaori a little, but she pulled him even closer by his collar. She said, her face completely red as she blushed madly,
"I still have my camisole on"
Ryo looked at her bewildered. She giggled and he grinned. And…

Thud! Ryo fell out of his bed on the floor. He straightened up and looked around. He smirked as the truth hit him,
'This girl doesn't leave me alone even in my dreams'
He climbed back up on his bed and put an arm around his wife. She said, still half asleep,
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"No", Ryo closed his eyes, "Just an alternate version of our first time"
She opened an eye and said,
"Jeez, Ryo. Is there a single moment when you are not thinking about sex?"
"There are many. But there isn't a single one when I am not thinking about you", he kissed her bare shoulder, her neck and nestled his face into her not-at-all-long hair. She smiled and slid closer to him,
"Good night, partner"
"Good night, Kaori", he smiled peacefully. His reality was now even better than his dreams.