Disclaimer: I do not own "Dengeki Daisy", or an awesome hat. Working on the hat part. Enjoy!
A loud, yet muffled bang shattered Kurosaki's concentration. He looked up from his computer screen and blinked blearily, registering that the room around him had become dark without him noticing. He squinted at the small clock that was perched precariously on the edge of his desk and realised that it was pretty late. The racket must have been Teru arriving home next door.
The blonde got up stiffly and stretched, a groan escaping from his lips as his spine crackled. He rolled his shoulders and headed towards his small kitchen. However, half-way there he stopped dead in his tracks as he realised that he didn't need anything in there. He wasn't hungry. He wasn't thirsty. There were no dishes to do. In fact, the place was completely spotless - courtesy of Teru.
Kurosaki's brow wrinkled as he realised the cause of his sudden restlessness. It was the petite brunette who lived across the hall. He rolled his eyes, more frustrated at himself than anyone else. He'd been perfectly fine until she'd arrived home, completely focused. Just hearing her arrive home was apparently enough to disrupt that focus. Her presence a few hundred feet away, across the hall with numerous walls and doors in the way was enough to dissolve his concentration. He could focus very well when Teru was in any kind of danger, mind you, in fact he become almost completely single-minded. Nothing was more important to him than the safety and happiness of his princess and whenever that matter was in question, nothing in the world could distract him.
He debated whether or not to go over to Teru's apartment now. Kurosaki sneered at himself for his need to see her. Couldn't he even go for more than a day or two without laying eyes on her? The answer was a firm and definite no. The janitor remained rooted to the spot on his carpet for a few more moments, frozen in indecision. One the one hand, he didn't have a legitimate excuse to check in on her. On the other hand, he didn't really care.
Decision made, Kurosaki strode towards the door feeling slightly frustrated. Why did he even need to justify visiting Teru to himself, for goodness sake? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that dropping by her place whenever he felt like it made it seem like he had some kind of claim on her. He had no right to think like that. After all the teasing about him being her master and her acting the part of the loyal slave, the truth was that Kurosaki was her servant. Always there for her, always looking out for her well-being, always faithful. Forever, if she would let him. She was the one who kept him strong. Everything he did was for her.
A few seconds later, a soft knocking could be heard in the hallway as Kurosaki rapped on the door of the apartment inhabited by Riko and Teru. He waited a moment, but when there was no answer he knocked again. Nothing. Growing concerned, he knocked more insistently but without results. Teetering on the verge of panic, Kurosaki dug the key out of his jeans' pocket telling himself the whole time that he was being ridiculous for feeling so worried.
The key was necessary for him now after the unanimous decision that the two females should always keep the door of the apartment locked at all times. If Kurosaki could come and go as he pleased, entry would be equally easy for people with more malicious intent.
The door swung open easily, and Kurosaki was met with the sight of total darkness. If he hadn't been absolutely positive that Teru had arrived a few minutes before, Kurosaki would have believed that no-one was home. She must not have bothered to switch the light on. Something had to be wrong.
Leaving the room dark, Kurosaki crept into the apartment navigating his way around the furniture as quietly as possible. The silence was so acute that Kurosaki could hear his own pulse, slightly faster than usual. If someone had been lying in wait for Teru and had kidnapped or hurt her, there was no telling what Kurosaki would do.
He suddenly spotted a source of light in the form of a chink of brightness emitting from the crack between the bottom of the bathroom door and the floor. Relief lessened the pressure in his chest marginally, but all was not well yet. The only reason Teru would come home and immediately barricade herself in the bathroom was that something had happened to upset her. Kurosaki's brow furrowed in concern.
Meanwhile, Teru was hunched down on the floor, her back against the bathtub and her chin on her knees. She stared blankly at the smooth cold tiled floor, steadfastly refusing to cry. Tears would just be even more troublesome. She was roused from her reverie by a soft tapping on the outside of the door. Teru's head jerked up towards the sound, but she didn't move. She was almost sure who was on the other side of that door, and although she did wish to see him, she didn't want him to see her like this. She longed to run to him and be comforted, but how often could she do that before he became irritated with her? She'd wanted to become more grown up and stronger, and she felt it was time that she acted accordingly.
Rising from her position on the ground, Teru glanced quickly in the mirror to make sure she looked normal enough before opening the door. Kurosaki's hand was roughly level with her nose, raised to knock on the door a second time but at the sight of Teru's face he dropped it to his side and peered at her instead. She returned his concerned gaze with a bright smile and skirted past him so that she could have her back to him as soon as possible. She'd never been a fantastic actress.
Switching lights on as she went, Teru headed towards the kitchen intending to make supper. "Are you hungry?" she inquired nonchalantly of her company, opening the fridge and rummaging around. Finding nothing promising in there, she turned instead to the cupboards but found her way blocked by the body of a certain ex-hacker.
Teru froze, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the front of his old grey t-shirt. She wondered idly if he was cold, clad in such thin material but she was soon distracted from her thoughts by Kurosaki's finger under her chin, forcing her face upwards. She tried her best to look unbothered, though she wasn't so much bothered by her previous issues as she was by Kurosaki's physical closeness. Either way, there was no way she could convince Kurosaki that she was totally fine. His eyes stared intently into hers; unwavering for once and Teru knew that her face was going to start heating up any second if she couldn't get away.
Kurosaki still hadn't said a word when Teru wrenched her chin out of his hold and squeezed her way sideways between him and the kitchen counter. Trying her best to calm her flustered heart, she snatched two containers of instant ramen out of a cabinet and switched the kettle on.
"What's wrong with you, grabbing my face like that?" she inquired, finally turning around to face Kurosaki voluntarily. He stared back incredulously at her but Teru kept her face carefully devoid of any real emotion. She couldn't concern him again.
Kurosaki was obviously capable of great wisdom and patience, which he had often proven as Daisy but now he simply felt frustrated. Teru was hiding something from him and he could feel himself growing steadily angrier and angrier. He was envisioning all sorts of horrible scenarios in his head, and unless Teru put him out of his misery soon he was going to explode. He smiled, though it bordered more on a snarl and clapped his hand down on Teru's slim shoulder.
Her turned her around to face him and looked intently into her face once again. As he watched, Teru's face crumpled, along with his own anger. She tried to pull away from him as tears appeared in her eyes, but he wouldn't allow her too. Instead, he moved the hand that was on her shoulder down to her elbow and tugged her out into the living room where he pulled her down beside him on the couch. He sighed. "Tell me what's wrong."
Teru construed his sigh the wrong way and thinking that he was annoyed at her, made a gallant attempt to blink the tears out of her eyes and answered with "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I'm just fine."
"Don't give me that," Kurosaki prodded, as patiently as possible. "I know there's something bothering you. I want you to tell me what's wrong. Or would you rather mail Daisy about it?"
Teru laughed weakly at that. "No really, there's nothing." She met Kurosaki's eyes, hoping it would convince him that there was nothing to worry about, only to see the most ferocious glower occupying his face. She was surprised into spilling her guts completely.
"I failed a Geometry test," she blurted. Kurosaki blinked, his expression clearing. "You failed a test," he repeated incredulously. A fleeting smile turned up the corners of Teru's lips. She was still upset but he look on his face was just too amusing.
"I didn't exactly fail," she confessed. "I just didn't do as well as I'd hoped." Kurosaki continued staring at her. She was this upset over a test?He wasn't buying it. "And…" he prompted.
The corners of Teru mouth twitched again, before her face became downcast again. "I guess it just made me realise how much of a burden I am. I'm still not very good at defending myself. I can't do a single thing about anything that's happening at the moment. And what happens if I lose my scholarship?"
Kurosaki couldn't help it; he snorted. A dark aura began to grow around the girl beside him, but Kurosaki quickly continued before she could start yelling. Of course, he didn't do it very smoothly. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he declared.
Hurt flashed in Teru's eyes, piercing Kurosaki's heart like needles. He sighed again and before Teru knew it; her cheek was against Kurosaki's shoulder with her head tucked under his chin and his hand on her shoulder. "Teru, you're smart. The smartest brat I know. So what if you didn't get full marks this time, you'll do better next time. And you're not a burden. You would be if you were one of those limp, noodly types of girls who are useless entirely, but you're not. Just keep going the way you are now, the way you always have and everything will turn out fine. So quit worrying."
Listening to the beat of Kurosaki's heart, breathing in the scent of him, Teru felt all her worries drift out the window. Only he could do this for her, as if his warmth itself just melted all her worries away until they were no more. Somehow, she never felt weak when she was with him. He was so much stronger than she was, yet he never treated her like she was breakable. Delicate maybe, but not fragile. He made her want to be better, to be stronger. And he made her feel like she could.
In a rare moment of confidence, Teru snuggled closer into Kurosaki's side and felt his arm tighten around her. She smiled contentedly and closed her eyes as she felt his lips brush her hair briefly. She felt him breathe deeply, her upper body rising slightly with the gentle swell of his chest. There was no need to move from this place just yet.
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