Chapter One

It was over. Finally, after so many years, the war had ended.

Kino found it hard to believe that something so terrible, so painful, had ended in the short span of a few hours. It was unbelievable. She had watched the events transpire almost in slow motion, the death of Zorndyke, the grieving of his children, and, finally, the attack and retreat of Verg.

Ah, Verg. He had, in one word, horrified her, for three reasons. The first was the fact that he had been so ruthless. He hadn't stopped to think as he had lashed out. He hadn't paused, or hesitated. He had moved. In a few seconds, he had shattered any sense of peace Kino had even gotten close to acquiring. From the death of Zorndyke, she had found a bit of hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. But then she had seen Verg's pain at loosing his father.

And she had realized, in that moment, that his pain wasn't unlike her own. He had lost someone of great importance to him, and that was why he had attacked. It was almost exactly like Kino's reasoning for her fight against Zorndyke's creatures. She had lost her only family, and in turn wanted revenge. And that was the second reason that he frightened her: he was, in many ways, like her.

The third reason, Kino reflected, was completely absurd in all aspects. Not that the reason itself was absurd, but the reasoning behind it was. The third reason was that he had almost taken another life of a person she had come to care for.

How on Earth she had managed to come to care for that cynical, pessimistic, self-centered lunatic was beyond her. But she had. And the funny thing was, now that she thought of it, it didn't seem so absurd.

Which was why she was currently sitting on a sandy beach, with a wet rag in one hand, carefully washing the dried blood off of Hayami's face. The site of him being so… beaten up had devastated her. And so, she had snatched a cloth up from the Granpus, wet it down in salt water, even though it wasn't the cleanest of sources, and begun to clean him up.

He hadn't made any move to stop her. He said much in quite a while. Almost an hour, actually. It would still take Blue Six a while to reach them. They had to stop for a while for things such as repairs. Not that Kino minded.

It gave her a chance to reflect, and to watch Hayami. Despite herself, she had come to find him a very interesting person. While had hadn't voiced his protests, she could see clearly that he didn't like, or enjoy, being taken care of.

Well, tough cookies for him. Kino thought to herself, and then realized that she had actually used the words "Tough Cookies", and found herself giggling slightly. Hayami sent her a strange look, but didn't say anything.

Sobering up, she noticed that he was, discreetly, holding a hand to his ribcage. Knowing there was a very good chance he had cracked a few ribs in the fight with Verg, she bit on her lower lip. If they didn't get taken care of, or at least looked at, they would get worse and he might permanently damage himself. And knowing him, he wouldn't speak up about his pain.

Sighing, Kino raised her eyes, which had been downcast even as she worked, to meet his.

"You need to take off your shirt."

She congratulated herself silently on the fact that she wasn't blushing. When he made no move to comply, she licked her lips and reached over to give the sleeve of his jumpsuit a little tug.

He surprised her when he grab her by the wrist, halting her movement, and causing the argument she had prepared in her head, knowing he would argue, to die at her lips.

"You don't have to."

His voice was smooth, though a bit strained, and almost send a shiver up Kino's spine. She looked at him, a bit surprised. He wasn't arguing. Instead, she saw a look of almost… gratefulness on his face. The emotion even reached his eyes. She blinked a bit, and pulled her hand back, sliding it out of his reach. Sitting back on her heels, she cocked her head to the side and gave a tiny smile.

"But I want to,"

This was a weird conversation. Kino was so used to arguing with him… or even just babbling to herself as he listened, or drowned her out. He had never seemed so sentimental before. She guessed that the previous events had shocked him as much as they had her. Although he was good at hiding it…

She sighed, "You really need to get your ribs looked at… they could be…" she trailed off. He was looking at her with an amused expression. What was so funny?

Finally, he decided to fill her in. "You have a medical degree?"

She felt her face flush with frustration. This she could deal with. A sentimental Hayami blew her mind away, but this stubborn, jerk of a man she had no trouble with.

She bit back her curses and insults. Right now she really didn't need to aggravate him. He had gone through so much. But so had she…

She rubbed her neck, and winced as a sudden hot pain raced through her. It burned for a moment, as she carefully began to rub it. It hurt… badly. She might have pulled something when Verg had thrown her…

She could also feel bruises beginning to form on her back. She would be sore for a few days. It would be hell getting up in the morning.

Hayami's voice caused her jump slightly. "You should rest. "

Kino glared. "And what about you?"

He sent her a grin, and then a shrug. She shook her head, and then reached over quickly and tugged on his shirt. "Take this off."

It wasn't a question, and while she knew he didn't like taking orders, he would just have to deal with it. She was actually worried about him… it surprised her to realize it. But she was, and she considered him her friend, at least. And that meant she had to take care of him. Even if he didn't like it.

He was full of surprises today, apparently, because he did as he was told, for once. Kino immediately felt herself wince involuntarily. He was clack and blue all over. She was surprised he wasn't screaming his head off in pain. But then again, a part of her wasn't. She knew him well enough…

Gently, she reached out a hand and laid it against his already swelling stomach. She heard his hiss of pain and pulled back. She sighed and looked away. There was nothing she could do. The most Kino knew how to do was reset bones. Broken and/or cracked ribs she had no idea how to handle. She knew that she needed to brace them with something… but there was nothing around. The most she could do was warn him. But he probably wouldn't listen.

And he hadn't moved much. Which meant he knew of his condition, and was obviously trying to minimize damage. Or else he was just thinking of a new way to torment her… either way, he wasn't moving, and therefore not injuring himself further.

Kino sighed, and collapsed onto her back. She was tired. She had been through a lot emotionally, and physically, and needed to rest, even for a few minutes. And it would take Iga and the rest of Blue Six several hours, or even days, depending on the condition of the submarine, to reach them. She could surely trust Hayami to not kill himself or get into to trouble for at least a few minutes, right?

Kino awoke to the sound of shouting. Peeking her eyes open, she noticed the sun was lower than before. How long had she been asleep? Sitting up, she winced as her back ached. Rubbing it gently, and feeling the bruised surface, she looked around, blinking sleepily. Hayami had dozed off, sitting upright, apparently. So he wasn't the source of the shout. She looked around.

There, surfaced along the waters of the ocean, was the large "fin" of Blue Six, identifiable by the large 6 on it. The shouting was coming from a group of people coming towards shore, albeit slowly. Among the group was Freeda and Iga. And little Howan. How she had managed to con her way onto the small vessel getting closer with every moment Kino couldn't imagine, but she was happy to see the little girl. And Howan was the one causing most of the noise.

"Hey!" The blonde child shouted, waving frantically and jumping up and down a bit, hugging her teddy bear to her chest.

Smiling, Kino turned and gave Hayami a shake. He jolted awake in surprise and murmured a, "wha-?". Kino jerked her head in the direction of the group, before jumping up to meet them.

As the group hit the sand, Howan was the first out, running up to Kino, kicking up sand and tripping over her own feet. Kino smiled and, anticipating the child's move, knelt down. Howan did as expected and leapt at Kino, wrapping her tiny arms around Kino's neck, her teddy bear forgotten on the sand beside her. Kino laughed and stood up, balancing the girl on her hip as she did so.

Howan was light enough that Kino had no trouble keeping her up as the rest of the group came up. Hayami still hadn't moved. Howan peeked over Kino's shoulder and waved at him, and he smiled at her, though ended up looking more like a smirk.

"Kino, Hayami." Iga greeted, coming up in front of them. Kino made an attempted at a salute, but with Howan in her arms, it proved difficult. Iga chuckled and nodded at her. "It's good to see you two are okay."

Turning to Freeda and the others, her nodded at them. "Alright, let's get them aboard."

Within minutes, the group had begun to move about their business. Four of the members that Kino couldn't name headed for the Granpus, checking it and preparing it for re-docking. Freeda moved up to Kino and smiled, as one man went to help Hayami up.

"Glad you're okay." She stated, smiling at Kino. Kino nodded, and shifted Howan. She reached out carefully, "I'll take her." She offered.

Kino shook her head, still smiling. "I've got her. Besides-" she tightened her grip, "I don't think she'll let go anytime soon."

Freeda laughed and motioned for Kino to walk with her. They talked a bit, and she felt herself relaxing in the familiar company. Kino and Freeda, while they hadn't been the best of friends, had spent a lot of time together, along with Shiro. Of course, being three out of the grand total of twelve female officers out of the crew of 97 people on Blue Six, it was natural they spent some time together.

Howan, suddenly realizing she had left her teddy bear behind, looked over Kino's shoulder with a panicked expression. Hayami, still struggling with the young officer beside him, noticed and, sighing and wincing in pain, reached down and scooped up the toy.

Howan smiled at him gratefully, and then laid her head on Kino's shoulder and began to idly play with her hair.

Author's Notes: Woohoo! My first Blue Sub. No. 6 fan fiction! Yay! Now, just so you all know: This story is mindless, plotless, stress relief. The whole reason I'm writing this is to take a break from life. I will update when I feel like it. Right now, the whole idea is to get Kino and Hayami together… after that, who knows!

Let me repeat: THIS STORY HAS NO PLOT! So if it seems like it's not going anywhere, it probably isn't… And most of this story will be pointless Kino/Hayami fluff. M'kay? Good.

Now be sure to review!

Graywords-girl