Thunder rolled and lightning flashed across the darkening sky, doing nothing to improve the temper of the young woman glaring out the small office window at it.
"Typical, today would have to be the day I forget to bring an umbrella to work" she thought peevishly. Although, it was sunny this morning! The weatherman said-"Her train of thought was abruptly cut off by yours truly, sort of. "Ah, come on, girl! Who listens to those boring dudes anyway? They're never right." You shut up! she yelled inside her head. Man, Tomi was annoying at times. And the worst of it was, Tomi wasn't real. She was that little niggling voice in the back of your mind that surfaced when you wanted it least.
Kyoko was forced to grudgingly accept the words of her inner self, much as she loathed them. If someone were to describe Kyoko Milchan in one word, they would say…prepared. Or at least, she hoped they would. And still, she chosen to be optimistic and forsake the bike for the chance to enjoy the short walk to work. It wouldn't have kept her any dryer to ride it home, but she sure would have gotten out of the cold faster.
What in the world am I gonna do now? Sighing deeply, Kyoko made a decision, and stepped from the shelter of the agency's lobby into the raging rainstorm.
Fifteen minutes later, Kyoko was well and truly miserable. Pulling her flimsy clothing around her more tightly, and keeping her head lowered from the onslaught of the gale and the now torrential rainfall, she wondered for the thousandth time since she had left the building if she had offended somebody upstairs.
Another blue flash of lightning rent the sky, followed by an ominous rumble that sent a shiver through Kyoko right down to her cold feet. She had never been that frightened of lightning, but, then again, she had never been stuck outside it in it before either. For the first time since she had set out, she felt scared. The storm was quickly worsening, the danger was growing and with the winds hampering her speed, getting home was starting to look like an impossible hope.
So absorbed was she in her worried thoughts, that she failed completely to hear the faint rev of an engine drawing closer.
Kyoko was snapped suddenly out of her reverie by a shout.
"KYOKO!"
Jerking her head back in surprise, she saw a young man hurrying towards her, with an arm shielding his face from the fierce tempest. As he drew closer, she thought "He's a little familiar…" When they were a mere foot apart, realisation hit her.
"Daisuke!" she cried in relief. Kyoko had never been so glad to see the imperturbable blonde before.
"What are you doing out here?" Daisuke yelled over the squall. "Come on!" Taking her small cold hand in his larger one, he pulled her back to the bike where she gladly stepped into the sidecar.
Daisuke rummaged in the storage space and handed Kyoko an extra mackintosh which she accepted gratefully.
The engine roared to life leaving the dismal street behind.
Soon after, they arrived at Daisuke's apartment building. He lived in the fifth floor flat which they reached after a short elevator ride. Dice unlocked the door and the two practically fell inside, exhausted.
Both breathed a heavy sigh of relief once safely indoors.
"That's some beast that's brewing out there" Daisuke said wearily, unzipping his waterproof and throwing it across a wall hook. Kyoko nodded in agreement as he took hers too. "Sure is, it just came out of nowhere" she replied equally jadedly.
"Well, guess we're stuck with it for now." he said, absently scratching his head. "I hope you don't mind crashing here for the night, it's just that…"
"With lightning like that, it was dangerous for you to be driving at all, I understand. I appreciate everything you've done for me tonight, Dice" Was it her imagination or was Mr. Cool looking a little…flushed?
"Don't worry about it, Kyoko" he replied quickly, a tad flustered at her praise. "I'm just glad I could help"
Something struck Kyoko. "But wait, you left nearly half an hour before I did. Why were you…?"
"Oh, that. Well I was going to leave then, but bro called and asked me to deliver something from one of the other departments, so that's what caused the hold up. Though I guess it was lucky" he said, smiling at her.
"Very" she quipped. "Can I use your phone? It's just, my family are probably starting to get worried by now, especially Grandpa" she added with a wry smile.
Daisuke grinned, knowing exactly what she meant. "I gotcha" Handing her the wireless phone, he started walking away. "I'm gonna go take a shower now, you can go next when you're finished up here"
"Okay, thanks" she said, trying hard to shake away the not altogether unwanted images that sprung to mind at his flippant words. Shaking her head slightly t6o clear it, she punched in the number. As she expected, all that was heard was a millisecond of dial tone before the receiver was snatched up. "Who are you? What have you done with my granddaughter! You unworthy-"
Kyoko figured it was time to halt his furious tirade. "Grandpa!" she interrupted "it's Kyoko. I'm fine, don't worry. I just got caught in the storm and Daisuke found me so I'm staying at his place for the night, okay?" She gulped in a lungful of air after this admission. As implied, getting a word in edgeways was tricky when the Captain was this panicked, so you took advantage of it when you could.
"Oh" was all he said at first. That had knocked the wind out of his sails completely. However he recovered fast. "Daisuke Aurora, was it? A fine young man, I thought. Well, I'm glad to know you're in safe hands. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then."
"Okay, seeya Grandpa" and she hung up.
Daisuke emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later wearing only a towel and water from his still wet hair dripping down his muscular torso. Kyoko managed to turn her head away just before she was caught staring.
"Showers free, and I left a couple of things in there for you" Daisuke stated calmly, producing a smaller towel from somewhere and beginning to dry his hair with it. Trying not to drool, she nodded and entered the bathroom.
Kyoko walked out of the bathroom a little over ten minutes later. "I needed that" she thought. The hot water had brought the feeling back to her chilled bones and refreshed her greatly. She felt much better for it.
A fact that had her struggling to maintain composure was this. When she had stepped out of the shower, and taken her now-dry undergarments from the heater, she had discovered that the clothes Daisuke had given her were men's clothes, and obviously his. They were a little loose on her slight frame, but the drawstring pyjama pants and grey t-shirt fit pretty well overall, as well as the extra pair of slippers she had discovered. "I don't have a problem with it though, why would he have woman's clothes, after all" And there was another reason too, her treacherous alter-ego spoke up. Feeling the heat rising once again, Kyoko pushed Tomi back to her dark corner.
Daisuke heard her enter the kitchen, and he turned to greet her. "Whoa" he thought, catching his jaw before it dropped in amazement. "Why does the room feel so warm all of a sudden?" he wondered heatedly. By this point, Kyoko was looking at him somewhat quizzically. "Something wrong?" she asked, puzzled. "No, it's nothing" Daisuke said quickly, smiling. "Only the fact that you look so damn hot in my clothes!" he yelled in his head.
"Uh, right" Kyoko replied, still rather bemused. She hadn't missed the spark in his eyes, however. I've never seen him look at me like that before.
"So, what do you say to a little dinner?" a smooth voice brought her train of thought to a standstill. "That'd be great" she said cheerfully.
"Goodness, he really should have seen that coming!" Kyoko gasped, tears of laughter running down her cheeks. Her companion wasn't much better and he threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Yeah, it's just as well this isn't real".
After a light meal of chicken, rice and tossed salad, it was still pretty early, so Daisuke had suggested they watch a movie to pass the time. And so, that's how they came be sitting on the couch for the last three hours nearly laughing themselves into a coma. And also how Daisuke's arm had found itself slung across the back of the sofa, fingertips trailing across Kyoko's unresisting shoulder.
Although neither said it aloud, both were marvelling at how comfortable the whole thing was. Free of the constraining atmosphere of the workplace, each relaxed. Even if he didn't let it show, sometimes the job really got to Daisuke. As for Kyoko, the sheer regularity of hers made her want some excitement every now and then, so she could drop the façade of flawless professionalism that tied her down.
The credits rolled up on the screen and she yawned tiredly. Dice noticed this. "I guess it's time for to get some sleep" he stated, switching the set off.
They stood. "Uh oh" Dice thought "I should have remembered this earlier!" He turned to Kyoko. "It only dawned on me now, I don't have a guest room, so…"
"Oh my" A dozen things simultaneously sprung to the forefront of Kyoko's traitorous mind…naughty things. Forcing down the blush that threatened to give her away, she shifted her focus back to him.
"…so I'll sleep on the couch and you can have my bed. How does that sound?" he asked, secretly feeling a bit nervous.
"Um…that's fine…but I'll take the couch if you want, I really don't mind" she insisted.
"It's cool, seriously" Dice said firmly, dragging pillows and bed linen out of a closet.
"Alright then, if you're sure, I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight, Daisuke" Kyoko said. About to walk into his room, she hesitated.
Daisuke looked at her questioningly, and suddenly she was…hugging him? Unthinkingly, he hugged the woman in his arms back and she murmured "Thank you, Dice"
"Anytime" he whispered back. After a few seconds, they disengaged, and Kyoko walked away, casting a glance over her shoulder and smiling slightly before shutting the door.
As soon as he heard the tell tale click, Daisuke fell back on the sofa, a hundred emotions battling for dominance in his spinning head. Staring at the door one last time, he sighed and hit the pillow. Might as well try to sleep, he thought, and shut his eyes.
On the other side of the door, Kyoko was lost in a flurry of feeling also. That had been totally unplanned. She was almost as surprised as he when she realised what was happening. But, he hadn't rejected her, but done the opposite. The pink haired woman's eyes travelled around the room, searching for a distraction from the chaos within her.
A picture on the nightstand caught her roving eye. Sitting on Daisuke's bed (she still couldn't believe it) she bent over to take a closer look. It was a group photo. "I remember this being taken" Kyoko realised. "I can't believe he has it too" The picture showed her with all her friends, Monica, Edmundo, Antonia, Boma, J and…Daisuke. The scene was indelibly etched into her memory because it was the last thing her tired eyes saw each day as well.
Sighing, she set the frame down and lifted the sheets, slipping into the comforting warmth of the soft blankets. Inhaling deeply, Kyoko smiled as she detected the faint scent of Daisuke's cologne.
Drifting off to sleep, the woman's last thought was "I wish I could have the real thing…"
When Kyoko awoke, the room was in darkness and the storm still raging intensely outside. Shifting onto her side, she squinted at the luminous alarm. 3.12a.m. glowed almost tauntingly back.
"Ugh, what woke me up?" Kyoko wondered, irritated. Turning to face the wall she tried to fall sleep again. After five minutes of restless tossing, she was still most emphatically awake and so gave it up as a lost cause and swung her legs off the bed. "Maybe a drink will help me sleep" she thought.
Padding silently across the floor, she opened the door a crack, praying it wouldn't squeak and wake Daisuke. It didn't and she opened it wider.
Her bare foot had barely touched down on the living room carpet when someone spoke.
"It wake you too?"
Kyoko yelped in fright and stumbled backwards, but the painful collision with the ground did not come to pass. Instead, it was stopped by a sturdy pair of hands under her shoulder blades.
Opening her eyes which she had squeezed shut, a grinning face greeted her.
"Dice! You scared me! I didn't think you'd be awake!" she scolded lightly, heart still hammering from the unexpected scare.
"I wasn't" he responded easily "until the window flew open and woke me". Gently pushing her upright, Daisuke let go of her, and Kyoko nearly groaned at the sudden loss of heat. "So why are you up?" he asked.
"Well, I guess that window woke me too, and I couldn't get back to sleep again, so I thought a drink of water might help" she replied.
"It could work" he agreed. A minute later both were sitting on the blanket covered sofa sipping at their glasses.
Daisuke was in agonies of frustration, being this close to her yet keeping his urges in check was killing him. He placed his empty glass on the coffee table and after a second Kyoko followed suit. They just sat there silently, watching the rivulets water trickle down the window pane.
Soon Kyoko was feeling the strain of controlling herself too. "Hmm…maybe we should go back to sleep" she suggested. "I suppose" Dice replied flatly.
Kyoko leapt up but sank back down hit almost immediately with a wave of dizziness.
"Are you okay?" Daisuke asked in concern. "Yeah, just dizzy is all" Kyoko said vaguely. And then she noticed where she had landed. Not on the couch, but in Daisuke's lap. Flushing bright red with embarrassment, she moved to get off him, but to her surprise he put his arms around her slim waist preventing her from moving.
Looking back in askance, their eyes locked. "Do you want to move?" Daisuke asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Kyoko knew what was happening, and was only too willing to go with the flow. Moving so that their faces were level, she replied simply. "No".
That was enough for Daisuke and he swooped in and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Kyoko moaned in delight and pressed herself closer to him. This in turn spurred him to slip his tongue past her parted lips and taste the insides of her mouth. She responded eagerly, doing the same for him, inducing the blonde to growl huskily against her. The kiss deepened to the point where both of them felt as if they were drowning under the surges of sensation assailing their senses. Finally, they broke apart gasping and Daisuke touched his forehead to hers, caressing her cheek gently.
"I've wanted to do that for so long" Daisuke breathed, tickling her ear with his warm breath. Kyoko laughed. "I wanted you to do that for a long time too" she purred.
Kyoko squeaked as Daisuke got up without warning, sweeping her up with him. What are you doing? she asked, smiling at him as he held her. "Taking you to bed" he said innocently, causing her to gasp and he carried her back to his room.
They got under the sheets and Daisuke quickly drew Kyoko against his body. Snuggling into his warmth, she sighed in contentment when she felt him press a kiss on the top of her head. "Goodnight angel" he murmured into her hair. "Goodnight Daisuke" she whispered back. The two slept wrapped in a tight embrace, finally as close as they wished.
"I don't wanna get up" Kyoko thought lazily. But she knew she had to, otherwise she was gonna be late for wor-
"Hold up!" Her eyes snapped open. "Was that a dream? Or did it-" Her gaze darted to the space beside her and a slow smile spread across her face. There he was, and he was real. Not just a crazy, wonderful dream. Burrowing further into the warmth of his chest, Kyoko realised that there was no place she'd rather be than here, in Daisuke's arms. The man in question shifted slightly and Kyoko was charmed at how adorable he was laying there, blonde curls falling over the pillow, a relaxed expression on his handsome features.
His eyes flickered, and a few seconds later they opened fully. His lime green eyes gazed into her emerald green ones. Daisuke grinned. Although he didn't voice it either, his first coherent thought had been a question about last night as well. "Good morning" he said cheerfully and bent in to kiss Kyoko, who eagerly complied as his arms increased their grip and gently raked down her back, making her shiver. Finally they separated, but he still held her tightly, and rolled fully onto his back so that she was on top of him, catching her off guard, and inducing a satisfactory blush. "Daisuke!" she giggled, struggling half-heartedly and futilely against him, eventually giving in when he made no move to free her and cuddled in once again.
Soon enough though, hunger pangs began to gnaw at both of them, disrupting their comfort, so eventually they had ventured from the warm, cosy bed in search of sustenance.
"What a beautiful day" Kyoko mused, as she stood at the balcony gazing up at the clear sky with the breeze gently tossing her hair. Daisuke smiled before walking up behind her and swiftly snaking his arms around her and nuzzling her neck.
"Daisukeeee…" she chided playfully. "Whaaaat?" he drawled back. About to argue, but too focused on the feeling of his lips on the sensitive skin of her neck, she gave in and felt him smile against her. Kyoko brought her arms up to lightly grip his as well.
They stood there for a while, each lost in thought. Daisuke felt happier than he had done in years. Kyoko, for her part, was elated at what had transpired. It seemed her feelings for one stubborn blonde were returned and so answered all her questions as to how he felt about her.
Daisuke gave a light chuckle. "What's so funny?" Kyoko asked curiously, twisting around in his hold to look at him. "Nothing much" he shrugged humorously. "Just thinking, it's a good thing the weather report was wrong, isn't it?"
"Yeah" she replied "It's all a little ironic really…"
Then his lips were upon hers again stopping her speech. Moaning, she dragged him closer by his shirt collar and he deepened the kiss.
As they broke apart, she began to speak again. "…but I think I'll appreciate thunderstorms a lot more now"
Daisuke chuckled "And you won't be the only one…"
The End
Well there's a KyoxDais for you all. Hope you do, and if that's the case, then go ahead and press that seductive little button. Go on, you know you want to…