Legal Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Ayashi no Ceres. I do claim ownership of the original ideas, dialogue/narrative and characters in this tale, Yuu Watase is the creator.
Warning / Alert: Later chapters will be Rated M for Lemons.
Pairing/Couple: Yuuhi Aogiri & Aya Mikage

This story takes place right after the Urukawa incident. My take on what could happen if Mrs. Q/Kyu hadn't interrupted "Yuuhi's Passionate Confession" as seen on episode 8.
Hence, the first chapter, Confessions & Confusions, will be a recap of the said episode.

Italicized words = Character's thoughts and/or insights.

Author's Notes:

Hi there. This is technically my first fan-fiction (the other fanfics I've written have never been posted & have been discontinued for lack of motivation, inspiration, loss for words and extreme laziness), so bear with me.

I wanted to write a fanfic about Yuuhi/Aya because I think that Yuuhi's better over-all! I think he's a hunk and I wanted them to be together!

The incident and rumors of what happened at Aisei High was no more, but the ordeal still remained crystal clear to Yuuhi.

"I can't believe I'm still alive after all that…" Yuuhi pondered as he lay resting on his bed, wearing his blue pajamas.

"It's a good thing that you only had minor burns! Jeez! You should not complain at all!" said the blonde pony-tailed girl sitting beside him.

"She (Suzumi) said it's because I tried to protect a tennyo, that's why it worked…" he held up the slightly burnt brown belt and gazed on it.

"uhuh!..and as for your reward…" Aya smiled as she went to get a spoonful of something…

Aya has always been very spirited ever since he had met her, though she was mostly annoying and stubborn at first, with all their cat-dog fight, he still can't believe that they became this close- this fast, in his case he never imagined that he would madly fall in love with her…

"if only she knew…" he thought.

"Say Ahhhhh!" Aya said as she insisted the spoonful of soup into Yuuhi's mouth, "Ahh?" he muttered as he avoided contact , a light shade of pink now stained his tan face.

"Well,..Yuuhi protected me! That's why I'm going to take care of you until you get better, So stop squirming around and just say AHH!".Yuuhi continued to dodge the spoon that was following him, he was like a toddler stuck on his high chair with the "here-comes-the-train" gig.

It was of no doubt that Yuuhi liked the attention he was getting from Aya, but somehow this seemed a little bit awkward for him since he knew she was doing this in friendship's name while he secretly hoped that she was doing it for something…more.

He's very well aware that she has this Tooya thing- (as if it wasn't obvious enough!), he was holding back what he felt for her because he was scared of risking their friendship, this was very difficult for him, part of him just wanted to scream out how he felt and just get a tight hold of her.

After a few minutes of dodging Aya's moves, the brown haired hero was cornered-with Aya on top of him still trying to push that spoonful of soup into his mouth!

Yes, now he really is in an awkward position with her, part of him was somehow enjoying it, but another part of him just wanted to pass out *grins*

"YUUHI, NEWS! NEWS!"

Mrs. Q barged in! Both Yuuhi and Aya stopped and slowly turned their heads to be greeted with a stunned Mrs. Q.

"OH MY! Yuuhi-san has finally made his pass at Aya-san with force!" she declared.

"Ah-no!no! IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Yuuhi said as he tried to explain the situation.

Now, a bright crimson red stained his face.

"Oh my, Yuuhi…is that what your intention was?" Aya said jokingly

"Why you..!" he replied followed with an abrupt laughter.

"Putting that matter aside, the main house just called, your father and brother are coming to see you…they're almost here.." Mrs. Q said.

The room grew silent.

"I'm going back to bed…" he uttered "I don't want to see any of them.."

With that, both Aya and Mrs. Q left Yuuhi's room with a worried look on their faces.

"Why is it Yuuhi doesn't want to see his father and brother?" the blonde girl asked as they made their way to greet the guests.

"Yuuhi doesn't really like to talk about it…." Mrs. Q replied

A lot of questions started pouring into Aya's mind, and as the seconds passed she became more and more curious.

Kneeling down by the tea table, the guests watched Suzumi gracefully mix her own special herbed tea with the technique of an old Japanese custom

"I'm sorry I had not prepared anything father…" the woman in the kimono apologized

"No, it's alright, I'm sorry that we suddenly barged in like this.." an old man responded.

"YES! Just being greeted with Suzumi's smiling face is enough for us!" said the younger man.

A mild conversation started. At this point Aya and Mrs. Q were just right outside the room where the guests were.

Aya stayed just behind Mrs. Q, deliberating whether she should go in and introduce herself or not .

The Japanese door slid open " I'm sorry but Yuuhi said that he is not feeling well and does not want to see anyone…" Mrs. Q stated.

"Well, as long as he is okay.." the younger man said as he slowly stood up "You couldn't kill him even if you tried….Imagine, having that brat put the Aogiri name in the newspapers! WHAT A SHAME!" he exclaimed.

Overhearing what the younger man had said irritated Aya.

"Who does he think he is!" she thought as she quickly barged into the room.

With a deep low uncaring voice she announced " Yo, Mikage Aya, I'm currently staying here…"

The younger man quickly recovered from his fall that was caused by Aya.

The persistent blonde girl exclaimed " Look! Yuuhi is a hero, if you're his brother the…"

The younger man swiftly got hold of Aya's hands "My!My! You must be the girl Suzumi's been looking after!" he said with a big smirk on his face "oohhh! you're as pretty as I imagined you to be!Yes! you're still in high school, I see…well why not come live wi…." A slipper flung into his face and he dropped on the floor.

"Get your hands off Aya.." It was Yuuhi, "Always the womanizer eh bro? You're never gonna get a bride" he continued.

"Yuuhi…" the old man uttered, "How are your wounds?..."a look of concern lay on his face.

"Thanks to you, I quickly remembered the pain that I had forgotten,…if the old hag hears about this she'll be mad." Yuuhi replied.

He was secretly hurting inside and he wanted them to leave immediately….

"Don't talk like that…"said the old man.

Yuuhi's brother stood up, just before passing by him he said, "This is what we get for visiting a brat like you? No wonder your mother abandoned you!"

With this, Aya got a surprised look on her face, "Abandoned? I'm pretty sure Yuuhi told me that his mom passed away when he was still a kid…" she was getting confused.

The old man stood up, "TOMONARI! That's enough! We're going home!" he proclaimed.

"Father, please stay a bit longer, you've come all this way…" Suzumi said.

"No, It's alright…thank you for seeing us…."

"Then let me at least escort you home", she insisted.

The guests along with Suzumi departed and left Aya and Yuuhi in the room.

Silence dominated the room and the air became heavy.

By now, both Aya and Yuuhi were sitting on the floor. Aya cuddled the cream colored pillow she found near her, Yuuhi leaned his back against the closed sliding door.

" Should I ask him?.." she wondered. She was secretly waiting for Yuuhi to open up to her.

Scratching his head in a boyish way as if he had read her mind, Yuuhi took a deep breath before jumping into his explanation.

"My mom was part of the cooking staff in the household of the Aogiri's, their food was always prepared by us since the time of my great-grandfather…" he shared " when I was born, dad's wife treated us cruelly, I was able to bear it all because I had my mother with me, it got worse when I was 10…my dad decided to register my name as an Aogiri, of course, his wife treated us ruthlessly than ever before until my mom couldn't take it anymore…."

He sighed as the memories of his childhood came back to him.

"…I was left alone to fend for myself, ever since then, I tried to be better, I didn't eat anybody's cooking except my own…eventually, I learned to cook better than my mother…." He paused.

"By high school, I was doing great…I got good grades, got better in sports and cooking, but still, they never changed how they treated me, brother Kazuma was the only one who looked after me…after a while he decided to get married and asked me to stay with him and his wife, naturally, I said yes…but…. before long, he died in an accident, ever since then, Suzumi has taken care of me and treated me just like a brother, So somehow, I feel lucky to have Suzumi…and there's Q too, but… they're all still strangers, those that are blood related are more unfamiliar…."

Aya hugged the pillow tightly as she listened to Yuuhi, she could feel what he felt, she began to feel his pain and sorrow, it was a feeling that was very familiar to her…

"…but, I don't need a family…" he uttered. She looked at him, "..being a thrown away child, the need for warmth became useless…"

Aya buried her face into her pillow. Her baby blue eyes showed a distinct sadness, "Warmth?..." she thought. Images of her family bequeathed her mind, about how they were before, Aki always teasing her, her mom and dad…she remembered being happy, she remembered warmth….

"Your mom didn't throw you away! It wasn't like that!" she exclaimed, she threw her pillow at him, tears streamed down her face, she was sobbing, the memories filling her mind gave her an intense gust of emotions.

"Aya…" Yuuhi quickly rushed over to her, he placed his hand on her shoulders and tried to calm her down…

She constantly wiped the tears from her eyes but her tears kept on flowing down.

"Don't tell me that you don't need a family….th..that you don't need warmth…." She sniffed.

"….Everybody needs someone, no one can live alone…" memories flashed through her mind of her newfound friends and family, "..being alone is…lonely…"she added, "I'm lucky that I have you Yuuhi…you were always by my side and I never felt I was alone…" she said before more tears came flowing down her face "I'm sure that you have someone Yuuhi, I'm sure that it's someone warm…" her sobs slowly stopped.

Smiling, she sat up and fixed herself, wiping off the tears that was left on her face, "I'm sorry…you must think that I'm a complete idiot for crying…" she glanced at Yuuhi who seemed still….

"IF THAT IS SO THEN WARM ME UP!..."

The cup of tea spilled over the table, continuously pouring into a mess. There was stillness.

Before she knew what was happening, she found herself on the floor…with Yuuhi atop her…

Aya was in shock…Yuuhi had placed his lips upon hers, he liked the feeling of her supple lips set upon his.

His kiss was full of passion and tenderness, it wasn't just physical contact alone, she felt something..more.

Yuuhi on the other hand, secretly wished they'd stay like this…he was overwhelmed by the softness of Aya's lips. It had been awhile since he'd kissed her.

Suddenly, Aya pulled her lips away from him, she was trying to get Yuuhi off her, but she couldn't because Yuuhi had pinned her down to the floor with his body….

"Yuuhi, what are you doing? What's gotten into you?" she said as she struggled to get out of his hold.

" I LOVE YOU!" he exclaimed. Aya froze in shock, she couldn't believe what he had said, he loved her?

Her cheeks flushed , she had no idea.

Of course, Yuuhi had kissed her a few times already, but she thought of it as nothing more than a way for him to bring her back from Ceres.

He again gave Aya a passionate kiss, but this time he deepened it, Aya couldn't move, her hands were taken hold by Yuuhi, his hands were strong but it was gentle. Yuuhi treated her very delicately. Every second that had gone by made him want her more.

"Please forgive me if I seem forward but I've never been in front of anything like you.." he thought

She could smell his scent, he smelled of spices and fresh air and both fragrances mixed and tickled her nose..

Her heart was breaking and she was gasping for air. Yuuhi's kiss was slowly weakening her, his kiss was taking away her ability to move or even to think, she was slowly giving in to him….

"No good…I can't break his hold….what do I do?…" she told herself.

Yuuhi parted with her lips and he held Aya tighter. She felt his warm embrace.

She had no idea of the strength of his desire for her.

She was convincing herself that this was wrong, that this shouldn't be, but the slightest touch by Yuuhi seemed to send her spiraling.

"I'm giving up all I have just to breathe the same air as you do…Aya…" hethought to himself.

She could feel his heart beating fast. It was pounding… and she was breaking.

"Yuuhi… I…I…" she stuttered.

He looked into her sapphire-like eyes and saw confusion in them. Their faces were but a few inches away.

Slowly, Yuuhi cupped Aya's delicate face.

"Aya…" He said lovingly "..I love you and I always will, I will only have eyes for you, I'll always protect you and be with you and no matter what happens I will always want Aya Mikage…."

"Yuuhi..." was all that came out of Aya's lips.

She saw the tenderness in his eyes, its as if he was directly looking into her…was it okay to accept Yuuhi? to forget Tooya? She could feel her body slowly wanting Yuuhi...it was urging her to allow him….

He had always been there for her…he had cared for her countless times and even risked his life…

Then…

A/N: Okay, I know I'm evil to leave you hanging but I have a lot of ideas and can't seem to make up my mind for the next part, so for the meantime,while i haven't been able to decide and if you want to see the next chapter, PLEASE RATE & REVIEW! I need all the motivation I can get! See you in the next chapter!