Notes: Relatively shocked at the reception of this fic, but very thankful none the less. Caught a series of typos in the first chap, post upload. Apologies around the board. Little bit of sexual themes in this one; keeping in mind that "little" is meant like a parsley garnish on a big fat plate of lasagna.

A week had passed, quietly and unassumingly. It reminded him of the times when he had been injured – the same painstakingly slow healing process. He was healing from the weeks of emotional turmoil and anxiety caused by too many missions, too much homework, and something else he still had no name for. And Chidori… she was healing too.

She hissed dangerously as he peeled the bandages away from her ribs.

" I still don't understand. Why didn't you go to the hospital, Chidori?" Her eyes flashed dangerously at him. He was crouched on his knees on her bed, bending at a difficult angle so that he could examine the swollen bruises on her right side while she sat on the edge of the bed ahead of him. She wore her red and blue midriff top, in spite of the chill, so that he could get a clear view of her injury.

She didn't answer and he frowned in frustration.

" Right, fine. Don't tell me." He snapped. It was not a pleasant feeling to snap at her, and most definitely not something he was used to, but it was getting ridiculous. It had been Monday morning when, just as the two of them were heading out the door, she had bumped into the door and nearly collapsed, sobbing in pain. He'd then found out about the broken ribs. She'd waited another two days to tell him about the injured ankle. He'd been furious with her, possibly for the first time.

He cursed lightly in Farsi.

" What does that mean?" Chidori asked sharply. He frowned.

" Nothing polite." He said, feeling caught in the act. He sighed. " I need to feel the bone, Kaname." He said gently. He reverted to her first name, knowing it put her at ease. She looked down at him, the painful wince already on her face. " I'm sorry, but I have to. If I don't, it might heal wrong and you'll have problems breathing." She nodded curtly. He stripped off his belt and handed it to her, and she looked at him blankly. " Bite it." She grimaced.

"What? No way-"

" Bite it so you don't scream." He explained. " Also you won't bite your tongue." Kaname looked at him in bewilderment but obediently put the belt in her mouth. He was trying very hard not to watch her pink feminine lips close around the dark leather. It was hard enough being so close to her naked abdomen, never mind the steady rise and fall of her… chest… area… " Okay." He said, to steady them both, and his hands shot out to feel the contours of her ribs.

Immediately, she made a horrible keening noise through the leather that made him wince. He hated to cause her any pain, but it had to be done. And surely enough, her rib was healing at an odd angle. He made a swift motion and there was a loud pop as Kaname veritably screeched. He was thankful for the leather that muted it. He backed away from her, hands up in the air to let her know it was over. She immediately spat out the belt and gasped, turning to him with a tearful expression.

" I'm sorry, Kaname." It seemed like he was always saying that. She just shook her head.

" It… it had to be done." She panted. " What was that pop?"

" I popped your rib back into place. If it doesn't heal correctly, you might wind up needing to have it continually popped. It's… unpleasant, even after years of doing it." Kaname looked less than pleased and the frustration rose again. "Well, it wouldn't have been a problem if you had gone to the hospital." He felt childish, but she should know better! It was his job to get hurt, not hers.

" Would you quit nagging me about the hospital?!" she snapped back. He was unmoved. He'd known she'd snap eventually, but he was prepared for it.

" Negative, I will not." He ground out his protest purposefully. " I am not a trained medic, Kaname and these injuries are serious-"

" Serious, bah!" Kaname huffed. " You've had shrapnel sticking out of your side and told me it wasn't serious. If you're trying to be gentlemanly or something because I'm a girl and you think I can't take it, you'd better quit."

He chose to ignore her rudeness at interrupting him.

" That wound was not serious. It was just a gash. No major organ or arteries were injured, and it didn't even hit the ribs. This is a broken bone, Kaname, and just because it's not preventing you from most of your daily activities does not mean it's not serious and won't affect you the rest of your life if not properly treated. I am not prepared to let you do that. You're going to the hospital." He said as firmly as he could.

" No, I'm not. I can't afford it without using my father's insurance and then my father would get the statement, and what would I tell him?"

" I'll pay in cash so it won't go to insurance, and no, you will not owe me anything. It's worth it to make sure you get proper treatment."

He'd considered taking her out to the de Danaan to be examined by the ship medic. But… she'd been so happy with him of late. Broken ribs aside, they'd been getting along, just avoiding any talk about Mithril or those horrible four days.

" But they'll still alert my father because I'm underage." Kaname protested.

" Fine, we'll lie and say you fell. Happens sometimes."

It kind of startled them both at how easily the lie formed on his lips. He was used to it, but still…

" Does it hurt still?" he asked after a moment of silence. She grimaced.

" Some. Throbbing, really." She told him slowly.

" Put on your jacket, we're going now."

*+*+*

It was a long evening. Sousuke was agitated. Tonight, she had learned he hated civilian hospitals.

" Inefficient, ineffective, and unproductive…" he mumbled. " I still can't believe it took three hours for them to even see you, and that nurse! Implying that I would ever lay a hand on you!"

She would have giggled but she was tired. The pain meds they had given her were making her sleepy. Sousuke was supporting her by putting a strong arm around her waist. She let her body mold to his firmer one, letting him carry her weight.

" Sousuke, I'm hungry… order something okay?" she said, but her voice sounded faraway.

" What do you want, Kaname?"

" Oh maybe… hamburgers or sushi or ice cream…" Somewhere in her head that didn't make sense. Sousuke frowned.

" I think you need to lie down."

" Maybe… but… only… I don't want to cause you'll leave me alone."

" Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" he asked, uneasily.

" Yup!" she chirped cheerfully. " Maybe that way I won't have any nightmares."

He never did ask her what she was talking about. At least, not that she could remember.

She woke up the next morning in her bed. She was wearing pajamas, she knew because she could see her arm. Sleepily, she rolled over, intent on going back to sleep, but was surprised awake. Sousuke was sitting on her bed, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt, looking out the window. Just as she saw him, he turned and looked at her.

" Good morning, Kaname. Did you sleep well?" He sounded calm and casual as she sat up. He probably read the alarm spreading over her face. " Um… you were out of sorts last night because of the pain medication, and seemed really alarmed at the fact that I was not going to be in the same room with you… so I thought it would be alright if I just sat here… I have to admit, though, I, uh, fell asleep somewhere around 03:00 hours."

" Why didn't you just wait till I fell asleep and go sleep on the couch?"

" Because you made me promise I wouldn't." Sousuke looked honestly terrified. He looked like he'd just discovered he had thrown a superior officer to the ground and put a gun to his face (again) but this time he'd been ordered to do so by the same officer, but still knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he stood a very real chance of having to visit that civilian hospital again.

It was almost cute.

" Oh. I don't remember that…" she said thoughtfully. The thought of Sousuke sitting faithfully beside her all night long gave her a warm feeling in her gut, like a soft affirmation that he actually cared. It was very easy to lose herself in the annoyance he sometimes caused her. But all the same… it seemed to her he'd been trying very hard lately to be better. Silently she reached out and grasped his hand. The minute her skin touched his, there was a spark of electricity. She wanted to snatch her hand back immediately, but something inside her resisted. She felt him tense, but he didn't pull away either. Something was burning inside her, just below her belly button. She looked at him and wantonly wondered what his lips felt like. Would they be rough and firm, like his chest had felt the handful of times she'd found herself slammed against it? Or would they be soft and gentle, the way his eyes were when she said something kind to him?

The thought made her blush. Her mind had raced ahead of her modesty, and suddenly she had the mental image of his large, thick form pressing down on her, pinning her between himself and something solid. She blushed harder.

Sousuke, ever damnably watchful, noticed.

" Kaname, do you have a fever?" he asked suddenly, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead.

He must have felt it too. His left hand was still joined to her right hand, and now his right on her forehead… they both froze. It felt so small on that bed. She could only see his face. Something darkened in his eyes, in a way she'd never seen before. His hand on her forehead slowly drifted down to her cheek. She just stared at him. What else could she do?

Oh god… what do I say, what do I do?

Sousuke blinked, and that was all it took. His hand snapped away from her. But it was too late, the burning had raged hotter. She wanted something, but had no idea what. A vague sense of some sort of… pressure… rhythm… She remembered the darkness in his gaze and that made her want whatever it was more.

" I… I…" he stuttered. She looked at him slowly, almost blearily. Could he possibly…

A cell phone rang. It was his. He answered it on ring two. He spoke a series of one word answers. He hung up the phone.

" I have a mission tomorrow."

" That's… more warning that usual." She muttered. It was not the first thing that had popped into her mind to say, but the half-formed thought that she was going to say had already faded from her mind.

" Part of the new agreement." He explained.

The distance between them seemed enormous. The silence between them seemed deafening. Something had almost happened, something that she wasn't sure she wanted or even understood. She wondered if he did. She wondered if she should ask. But she didn't… or couldn't.

" I… I'll be leaving at 0500 hours tomorrow." He went on unsteadily, like he'd been knocked badly on the head and wasn't sure what he'd been doing beforehand.

" You'll… miss the review for the English test." She said quietly. She didn't even know why she said it. It didn't matter. Why would it matter? Sousuke was fluent in English, and although he knew more about the names of armored vehicles than past-tense verbs, his understanding of the language made it the one class he was maintaining a decent grade in, seconded by his passing math grade. She suddenly felt like all the time they had was draining away from them.

" Affirmative, but it's just a day mission. I will be back by dinner tomorrow."

But what if you're not?

She wiped her lips unconsciously.

" You… you'd better come back. Because I'm going to make you curried rice for dinner, okay?"

I'm such a coward.

She could never say what she wanted to say.

" I will." He said it so quietly, so plainly. There was nothing but sincerity in his words. They made her not only believe him, but more importantly, believe in him.

He would come back to her.

That night, as she was getting ready for bed, Sousuke knocked on her door. When she let him in, he handed her a taser, very similar to the one she'd used on the roof… that night.

" I looked, but I can't seem to find the other one I gave you around… and I wanted to be sure you would be… well, at least you can protect yourself." He was biting off insults about Wraith, she knew.

She'd lost the other taser on that night.

" Thank you." She said simply, avoiding any discussion about the whereabouts of the other taser. Sousuke, for once in his life not chewing on his own foot, did not pursue the topic.

" Remember, lock the doors the minute you come home. And, go home directly after school. If you feel uneasy about anything, call someone to stay with you. And don't hesitate to use this." He pointed bluntly at the taser in her hand. She bit her lip uneasily.

" Hurry back, okay?" she whispered. She sensed him tense a little, and she sensed the words on the tip of his tongue, but he never said them.

" Roger."

He was gone when she woke up.