Don't You Know I Love You?

Chapter 2- A Slight Conundrum

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A few uneventful days passed peacefully aside from a few nosy neighbors inquiring the landlord about the odd household to everyone's relief. They were concerned about such a young girl living with two grown men. Bob had it taken care of with the landlord, so there were no more problems with that.

The weather was still beautiful. It was so gorgeous outside, Kagura believed they were probably going to pay for the joy later for the price of a few days rain. In the late afternoon, Kagura was still moping about the house impatiently for lack of activity. Bob had stepped out to run to the store grab ingredients for dinner. Saiga was in his room lying on his back deep in thought. It was great having her back, but what if she grew bored with the simple life the three had now? Most young women her age were bound to be partying, clubbing, and being late for college. Not holed up in a tiny two room apartment with one bathroom, three channels on the top floor of a stuffy apartment complex!

Hearing a faint knock on the door, he snapped out of his trance, "It's open."

"Hey, Saiga, I'm bored. Let's go do something!" she suggested.

"I was taking a nap."

"Saiga!!"

"Ok, ok fine, have it your way."

"I think we should go to the mall! I saw one on the way here!" she exclaimed.

"You've never been to a mall before?"

"Nope."

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"Oh my goodness, there are so many stores! Which one to go in first…" Kagura squealed.

Saiga felt he was just along for the ride. He listened to the activity around him. The footsteps he identified probably belonged to some teenagers shuffling their feet, or high heeled women coming or going from business meetings. The various conversations at once made it difficult for Saiga to concentrate on Kagura. She dragged him behind her by his hand holding onto a few fingers. In her excitement, she'd skip a store, realize she'd skipped it, and have to go back to inspect whatever was being sold. After another hour or so of browsing, Saiga began to feel a bit off, but tried to shrug it off. Her favorite was the candy store. All the candies were displayed in the window and she was so amazed by it that Saiga was forced to buy her a giant lollipop.

Taking a rest from exploring the many stores, Kagura led them to a bench so she could finish her candy, "The people are all so intuitive looking, like they know where they're going and nothing's going to get in their way. I don't understand that, I mean, people should loosen up some more, you know?"

Saiga's head was now in his hands. He just mumbled a response to her before she continued, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

The walk home wasn't too long, but not too short either, even briskly walking. It was already late afternoon, so they'd probably just make it home before Bob finished dinner. Kagura, still beaming about the day's events, walked a step or so in front of Saiga going on about various topics that Saiga couldn't focus on. His pace slowed, and when it got to the point where he was a few yards behind her, she finally questioned him, "Hey Saiga, are you ok?"

"Yeah, just tired I think. I'm used to just sitting around the apartment nowadays."

"If you say so, then ok! I wonder what Bob made for us tonight? I really hope it's not…" she noticed he wasn't close behind anymore. She turned around to see him gone, "Saiga?!"

Seeing a crowd of people surrounding something, to Kagura's horror, Saiga was lying unconscious on the sidewalk.

"Call an ambulance, quick!" a bystander shouted.

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Kagura was still anxiously sitting in the waiting room when Bob showed up, "I came as fast as I could!"

"What happened to the darling?"

"I don't know, he just fell over. He was before we left," she replied.

"Maybe it was the stress of the large gathering of people at the mall. It's a lot to focus on and take in. It's probably shocking to not be able to see all the excitement and only be able to hear it. Saiga hasn't been out in a large gathering since at least a year ago."

"Why?"

"He became depressed in the last year. Usually I couldn't get him to go anywhere but the apartment or the rooftop to take his pictures."

"Oh, Saiga…"

Finally, the doctor emerged and informed Bob that he'd had a high fever for a while, and should have sought medical attention way before now, "He's lucky it didn't get any worse. 104 degrees. He's stable now because he's been given an IV, but just make sure he gets lots of rest and tell him to take better care of himself. His iron intake is low so he will need to take these pills for a week also."

"Thanks, Doctor."

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When Doctor Ryogoku caught wind of Saiga's episode, he became concerned, "Bob, he was completely healthy the last time I examined him."

Bob switched the telephone to his other ear, "I know, but that was three months ago. I think my Saiga's been under a lot of stress lately, especially since Kagura returned.

"I can't visit for a few months though so I was thinking of offering a plane ticket so he could come to us. Ginza and I have talked it over and we want him to stay with us for a while. We feel like we know his 'condition' best."

"I will let him know when he wakes up. He will probably have no objections, but couldn't you offer Kagura a ticket? He'd surely want her to go along."

"Of course."

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Their flight was scheduled in three days' time. In the meantime, Saiga was busy getting his strength back, "Saiga, are you sure you'll be well enough to fly?"

"Yea, takes a lot more than a fever to stop me," he snorted.

She giggled, seeing the old Saiga back, "So, I haven't told you about my experience in Africa with Doctor Ryogoku and Ginza, have I?"

He shook his head, "Well, when I first got there, Ginza and I didn't really get along too well…" she continued to tell him that Ginza was still hung up over him even after she'd started dating Doctor Ryogoku, "It was kinda funny sometimes though because he'd do all these nice things for her and she'd just completely blow him off, but later that night, she'd always make it up to him."

"Kagura!" Saiga exclaimed.

"What, you don't think I know how the world works by now, Saiga?" she giggled, "I'm a woman now, not a child. Please don't overlook that."

That got him. He was quiet for the majority of her story, only interrupting to ask a question or comment on the culture differences between Japan and Africa. She went on explaining how her medical procedures went, how Ginza and she had actually became close friends, the exotic animals there, and Doctor Ryogoku's image among the other medical personnel and patients as wearing the dress in the relationship with Ginza. That one got a chuckle out of Saiga.

Looking outside, Kagura noticed it was now dark, "Wow, I'm sorry I talked so long. Sorry if I bored you!"

"No, it was actually quite interesting. I've never actually been myself."

"So tell me, what have you done with yourself in the last five years?"

No answer.

"Saiga?"

Thinking for a moment, he replied, "Don't worry about it. It's not important."

Feeling rejected, she shot back, "I just spent five hours telling you everything I did. The least you could do is give me five minutes. I'm interested."

"You wouldn't be interested."

"Why?"

"You just wouldn't."

"I'm not going to leave this alone. Stop being so closed off, I feel like you're trying to put a wall between us. I don't like it, it's scary. Do you not trust me anymore enough to tell me your feelings? Have we lost that since we've been apart?" she boldly told him.

Surprised by the sudden outburst, he assured her, "Kagura, it's not like that. It's just when you left, it was hard for me. I couldn't focus on anything. I didn't feel any motivation to do anything. When you were around before, it distracted me from thinking about my past. I'd gotten used to not having the nightmares, but when you left, they started to happen again. I can't explain it. It's like, because you were by my side, I was calmer and my mind was clearer. I had never been so happy in my life. Those were the best days of my life, Kagura. I felt alive again."

He wished so hard to see her face. That was one of the hardest parts of his existence now. He didn't care about seeing the daylight, a shooting star, or a sunset…He wanted to see her face again, just one more time. He wondered what she was feeling right now. He wondered if he was too forward. She wasn't saying anything, but he heard her breathing get heavier all of a sudden, "Kagura?"

The next thing he knew, she was in his arms with tears flowing freely down her face. He could feel them through his undershirt, which is all he wore aside from his pants. His trench coat was neatly folded on the dresser. Kagura had done it when she cleaned his room for him.

"I'm so relieved," she managed to say between her outbursts of tears.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close whispering in her ear, "It's ok, I'm here."

"That's," another sniffle, "not it."

"Then what is, Kagura?"

"I thought that maybe you forgot about me. Or didn't think about me as much as I thought about you! Saiga, I thought about you everyday, several times a day. I wondered what you were doing, if you thought of me, it you'd met anybody…"

His brain barely able to process this new information, his instincts took over and he grabbed her by the shoulders, "Of course I thought about you! Did you…really think of me that much?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad, now stop crying. Now I have to change my shirt."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Here, let me get it," she offered, he didn't stop her because it's not like he was about to move first. She was so unpredictable, she might start crying again if he even blinked.

"I'll help you," she began unbuttoning the soggy dress shirt that he had a million copies of in his drawers. Dropping it in the clothes bin beside the door, she walked over to grab a new shirt. Obviously, she couldn't help but stare at him. He still had the same muscular build she remembered, only he looked even better than before to her. At least he kept up with himself physically if he couldn't mentally. She could help him fix that part.

Saiga felt vulnerable. He wasn't nervous about what she'd think of him shirtless, no, he was more nervous about what he'd do if she came on to him. It was highly likely and sure enough when she brought him the new shirt, she paused. He just stood there waiting in the dark for her to bring the thing over, with the streetlamp outside the only illumination for her to see him anyway.

"Saiga," she whispered.

"Yea?"

"Do you really need the shirt?" she paused, "You look way better without it."

He thought he was going to choke on his heart. Saiga's pulse rose. Since when was she so forward? He knew she wasn't the same girl anymore, but he didn't really know what to expect. Kagura came closer and he could feel her breath on his chest as she observed his movements. Saiga froze when he felt her cool hands run up and down his chest.

"Kagura, I think-" her fingers found his lips to silence him.

"Please, don't talk. I just miss being this close to you," she said pushing him down onto the bed.

Saiga wasn't believing this was actually happening, but his instincts took over once again and he grabbed her to him and held her while they lay side by side, listening to each other's heavy breathing. She nuzzled closer while giving a contented sigh. Saiga held her as if he was never going to see her again. She felt this passion, and she slowly turned her head upwards. His arms snaked around her lower back pulling her closer. Feeling her head move to face him, he slightly turned his head down. What he felt next was over the moon. When her lips caught his, at first he didn't know whether to pull away or give in, but instead gave in. He kissed her back with almost all of his strength. He put all of his pent up feelings and aggression for not being able to show them behind the kiss and she melted right then and there into his arms. Things started to heat up and she rolled on top of him continuing the kiss. He ran his fingers through her long, silky hair and almost died of excitement when he heard a moan.

They were so focused on each other, they were still resembling horny rabbits when Bob came in looking for Saiga, "Saiga, dinner-…" he stopped in mid sentence, "OH, mah Lord! Excuse me! I didn't mean to interrupt!"

The door shut and both Kagura and Saiga froze. She quickly jumped up and ran out the door without a word. He waited until he heard the door to her bedroom close before he dared to move, "Great, just fuckin' great. What the fuck did I just do?..."

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Notes: Well, there's the conclusion to the second chapter! This chapter took a lot longer to write, but I'm proud of it and think it turned out quite nicely. Since it did take a lot longer to write, please enjoy it for now. Senior year starts for me next week so I'm going to be piled up to my neck in homework. Hopefully, I'll still be able to keep writing as much. Well, thanks for reading. As always, please please please review and give me some feedback. I appreciate every review. If I get just one, it's enough motivation for me to write the next chapter because that's at least one person that I can entertain. =D