Thunderstorms

As a diplomat, Misaki was used to having to scrutinize a person's every move, no matter how little the movement or how big, she'd be on top of it in a split second. Yet, there was one factor, or rather one person, stopping her from being able to scrutinize everyone she'd ever met successfully. And that was her husband.

"Are you okay?" She asked him as she slipped into the bed beside him. He seemed to be shaking but it was such a minute action that she could've been imagining it completely. He didn't turn to face her or cuddle her like the alien he was, instead, he just stared quietly out of the wall length hotel window. They were currently in Germany and the view, she had to admit, was fascinatingly gorgeous. It was a cold stormy night, unlike any she'd ever seen before and, though her innerself judged her coldly for it, she bit back her ever blatant embarrassment and snuggled closer to him to fight the cold creeping in through the thin hotel sheets. This was her first time in Germany and, whether it was for work or not, Usui's silence was killing her previous buzz. She placed her hand gently on his arm and didn't move it, still unsure, even after sixteen years of knowing him, of how to comfort him. A flash of bright, white light illuminated the spacious room and he turned to face her suddenly. He looked calm, almost stoic, as he opened his mouth to speak and a clap of thunder boomed across the sky. His mouth snapped shut.

"I'm fine," He assured her, though his teeth were gritted. He watched as her eyebrows raised and a small, cute smile danced across her face. She had figured it out, as he'd expected. She was a smart girl, he'd known that from day one, but she'd clicked a little faster than he'd wanted her too. It wasn't that he was afraid to tell her, but rather, he was too embarrassed.

It had started a long time ago, back before he'd met Misaki and long before he had known himself. It was back when he rarely heard any noise, when all he did was sit in his bedroom chambers and work the night away. No one ever talked to him back then, never directly anyway, and when he heard the thunderous clap it was like nothing he'd ever heard before. It was an understatement to say that the noise frightened him. He left the piles of paper untouched on his desk and looked around wildly. The rain was streaming down his window in a long, continous stream and the wind was howling, whipping against the double glazed window. His eyes widened and his heart beat spiked, afraid that the glass would break and shatter his safe haven. He didn't need that window to the outisde world, but it wasn't to say that he didn't want it. If the window were to shatter, he pondered through his fear, would he stay within the mansion, or would he embark on a journey that left him incapable of return? The window cracked.

As young children do, he grabbed his pillow and stripped his bed of its duvet, huddling into the corner of his room, as far away from the chaos of the cracked window pane as he could go. As the thunder boomed again, a small tear ran down his cheek. But there was no one there to catch it.

Misaki smiled and bit her lip.

"Takumi," She began gently, gingerly. "Are you-," But his lips had silenced her before she could finish her sentence.

"No," He murmured. "Absolutely not-," Another clap echoed around the room and his eyes grew dark, his jaw tensing as he peered out of the window. Misaki raised her hands to cup his cheeks and directed his gaze towards her.

"I know when you're being dishonest," She smiled softly. "I am your wife, after all."

"Which is exactly why we don't need to discuss this," He said.

"It's better if you admit it," She tried, sweeping his bangs back. "So tell me, Takumi- are you afraid of thunder?" He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his lips pressing against her collarbone.

"I don't want to be," He murmured. "It's stupid."

"Every fear is stupid to some extent," She reasoned, her fingers smoothing through his golden locks. "You just have to be brave enough to overcome it, have some sort of remedy for when thunder strikes."

"You." He whispered into her skin, his warm breath fanning along her chest. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You. You're my remedy, Misaki. When you made me look at you before, I forgot why I was so scared. As long as you're around, there's no need for me to be afraid." She raised his head gently and placed her lips on his.

"As long as it works for you, I'll always be around to cure you." And she snuggled down into his embrace, drifting off to sleep. He didn't feel so intimidated by the thunder any more.

~o~

Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed my short one-shot for KWMS. Please R&R, it means the world to me. And, as always, I'll see you again soon.

Xx SweetsPrincess-Sama