Practical Solutions to Lost Luggage

Word Count: 1,385

Rating: K+/PG, I think

Warnings: None (just references to what's in canon)

Summary: Her luggage got lost on the way to London, but she's figured out a way to fix that. She just didn't realize the effect it would have on Kent.

Author's Note: I... sort of prompted myself to write this?

Okay, so it was Ikki's fault because he was teasing everyone in Things Lost in the Fire and said that the heroine could wear one of Kent's shirts as a dress.

It was a joke, but I started thinking, and it became... this.

Practical Solutions to Lost Luggage

She looked around the room and sighed. She picked up her dress and shook her head. She'd already worn it more than she wanted to—every day since she arrived and found out they'd lost her luggage. The airline had told her it was possible they were on another flight and would arrive later, and she knew she had to wait another two weeks to get money for them—not that she wanted money. She wanted her things.

She'd taken only the most important things with her, and while she knew she could buy other clothes, that didn't make her feel much better about what she'd lost.

Kent felt miserable about it, too, blaming himself for asking her to come, even if this was where she wanted to be. She could have said no to coming to London, but she wanted to be with him. She'd worked hard to make it into the exchange program, and she wanted this.

She just... missed a few things she'd thought she'd have here, that was all.

"It is so... illogical. I have more than enough here," Kent said, frustrated as he looked around at the boxes of his things around the apartment. "I was even thinking I had too much and should donate some of it to a local charity, and yet you don't have any of what you need."

"I have enough," she said, because he'd already taken her shopping for the absolute essentials—toothbrush, toothpaste, all of that sort of stuff. "I'll make do."

Kent nodded, but he didn't seem happy about it. "If there was a way to calculate the most likely alternate destination for your luggage... There is, of course, but I'd need more information from the airline that I doubt they'd share and—"

"It's okay." She took his hand, wanting to keep him here with her instead of lost in calculations. "Really. I can make do for now. I'm just glad I'm here."

He smiled at her, but she knew he was still trying to find some way to get her luggage back.

She shook her head. Though she'd miss a few of those things she'd lost, she knew she could move on without them. She'd once lost something far more important—her memories—and she'd been able to keep going without them. She'd even gained a lot from losing them, as she didn't know that she would have developed her relationship with Kent like this if she hadn't forgotten her pride.

She could do the same now, move forward with Kent again.

She eyed the box of the stuff Kent said he was thinking of donating. She had an idea...

"Hello?" Kent called out in English, opening the door. "Are you here?"

She almost said something snarky because where else would she go? She hadn't started her classes yet, and she was going to look for a part-time job, but she'd wanted to try going through the university first, since she still wasn't entirely fluent in English.

"I hope you don't mind," Kent said, switching back to Japanese as he came around the corner. "But on my way home today I stopped and bought something for you. I factored in your previous clothing choices as well as your relative size, and while it is not what you gave me in my favorite scarf, I do think that you might..."

"Might what?" she asked, frowning as he stared at her. She waved a hand in front of his glasses. "Kent?"

"I... you... that shirt..."

She blushed, remembering what she'd chosen to wear. She'd actually meant to change before he got back, but it had turned out surprisingly comfortable when she tried it on to check her alterations. "Oh. You don't mind, do you? I thought because you said you were going to donate that stuff, it would be okay if I used it. I know I didn't ask. I was just tired of wearing the dress I had."

Kent swallowed, still struggling with his words. "It's not that. I mean, it's not that I—I don't dislike it. Nor would I be upset that you... I told you when we agreed to this living situation that I wanted you to feel like you could use anything you needed to of mine, though with some exceptions because of the item's nature and my research and... I don't mind that you used it. I don't."

She smiled. "I'm glad. I was a little worried when I had the idea, and I wasn't sure my sewing skills were up to it, but I thought I'd try anyway, since my sewing kit was one of the few things that made it with me."

Kent nodded, his cheeks a bit red. "It... It is curious how something I so disliked before now becomes especially appealing when you wear it. You've modified it, of course, as it would never flatter your figure before when it was meant to cover my frame, but you managed to take something formless and generically masculine in nature and make it... alluringly feminine. That is... I mean... It looks good on you."

She flushed all over again. "Thank you, Kent."

He looked down at the bag in his hands. "I suppose in that sense, you won't really need this. It's fine. It was rather presumptuous of me to buy you anything, particularly clothing, but I had thought that maybe you might... like... it."

She stepped forward to take the bag from Kent's hands, smiling as she did. She had a feeling even if it was awful, she'd still wear it with her limited options, but she really wanted to know what he'd picked for her. She pulled out a simple dress in a cream colored fabric that was and wasn't like her favorite teal one and clutched it to her chest.

"Oh, Kent, I love it."

"That's... I'm glad. I... I may be wrong about the size, though seeing what you did with that shirt, I think maybe I... I should have gotten it larger. That way it would be less attractive and you less tempting and..." He grimaced. "I am showing you another pathetic side of myself, aren't I?"

She just smiled, stepping up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you. For everything."

"For dragging you halfway across the world and then losing your luggage?" Kent shook his head. "You shouldn't be thanking me. This dress... and that shirt... they in no way make up for the trouble I've caused you."

"The airline losing my luggage is not your fault, and I'm here because I want to be," she said. "You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't want to. And... it was almost worth all that trouble just to see the look on your face when you saw what I did to your shirt."

"I see."

He was really adorable when he was flustered, though she knew it wasn't nice to provoke him like that. Still, she couldn't help asking, "Do you want me to try this on?"

"Yes. No. I..." Kent turned away from her. "It is not that I don't want to see it. Or that I feel you should change from what you're wearing now, though you should."

"I should? I thought you thought it looked okay."

He winced. "No, you shouldn't have to—it is my reaction that is the problem—it's just that I feel... I do not know how to explain how I feel about seeing you in that dress. Or the one I bought."

"Maybe... you could show me?"

He shook his head. "Far too dangerous. I do not think it would stop with a simple kiss."

"Oh," she whispered, her cheeks heating up. Her chest felt a little tight, and she didn't really know what to do now, either. "Kent..."

"Though... I would still like to kiss you. I just worry about what else I might try after seeing you looking so... beautiful. It is entirely unfair how well that shirt now fits you, and I... there is this strange feeling that comes with the knowledge that it is my shirt and... I feel a strong sense of... possessiveness. It is... unlike me. I have few attachments to material goods or even people, but in your case..."

She smiled at him. "I love you, too, Kent."