Chapter 2:

The sun was visibly setting now, drowning the sky in a marvelous explosion of pink and orange hues. The Heroine had one hand loosely woven with Toma's, and the other wavering warily close to the bottom hem of her dress. She walked with short, fast steps.

About two blocks back, a forceful gust of wind had almost completely flipped her dress inside out. The heroine, completely caught by surprise, had found herself staring at the sheet of blue fabric that was the bottom half. Luckily in her panic she had quickly yanked her skirt back down to a suitable height before anyone else on the street could notice.

That is, except for Toma.

His eyes had immediately flitted downward, widened immensely, and flicked back up again. He had put his hand over his mouth, and turned his head to look straight forward, a red flush forming over his cheeks and nose. His eyes were still as big as dinner plates, and his whole body had gone stiff. The Heroine swore she heard him make something between a moan and a whimper.

"Don't make that sound!" Orion had yelled at him, sounding just as flustered as the Heroine felt. "Are you turned on by this or something?!"

But of course his cries went unnoticed by the poor soul who was now flushing a deep scarlet from head to toe.

"Ahhhh, gomenasai ," Toma replied hesitantly. "It's not really like I can help you in this situation without looking suspicious, if you know what I mean". He raised an arm above his head and chuckled awkwardly. Orion rolled his eyes and shook his head in disapproval.

"It's fine… I agree." She had said with a petite smile, covering up her dismay. With a groan she wondered if the universe was turning against her today.

Now they walked to Toma's house, which was about a twenty minute walk away. He had suggested that she stay over that night after all that she'd been through that day. The Heroine felt exhausted just thinking about the hateful messages she might find in her email and mailbox from Ikki's fangirls if she walked home, so she agreed.

"He better not do anything bad to you at his house, or else I'll kick him to another dimension…" Orion murmured while casting a threatening glance to Toma. The Heroine let out a sigh of exasperation, but her eyes were smiling.

Upon arriving at the apartment, the heroine felt a small twinge of nervousness, realizing that she'd actually never been to Toma's before, much less slept over before.

"It's on the second floor," Toma explained. "I'm staying here until my studies at university are finished, or at least until I can afford a bigger place." He winked at her, and she flushed her usual shade of light pink accordingly.

"WOOOW! Toma has some major house decorating skills!" Orion beamed, exploring the apartment.

The place actually wasn't too bad, the heroine found herself thinking. Toma had gone for a contemporary style, with white, sharp-edged furniture and abstract paintings adorning several walls.

He gave her a tour of the apartment, and it was surprisingly well organized for a male university student. She smiled. She had always thought of Toma as a wild, messy sort of person, the type that would often go to lots of parties. The living room consisted of a spacious white couch facing a wide screen TV, and connected up with the kitchen. His bedroom was cozy, with a low-lying king sized bed.

"I have some T-shirts that you could change into, or would you want to stay in your dress? Oh, and you should also sleep in the bed…" Toma saw the Heroine's shocked expression and added with a chuckle, "not with me of course!"

"Thanks." The Heroine sheepishly accepted both his offers.

After a minute, Toma came back with an oversized T-shirt that looked big enough to reach her knees. "Do you mind if I change in the bathroom?" She inquired.

"Ahhh..! S- Sure!" Toma replied, with a cute stutter. "I'll go prepare you some lemon tea. You look like you need it." The grin he gave her made electricity flow through her veins.

She was about to start changing in the bathroom when she saw Orion by the door.

"Don't lookyou baka! I've already had enough attention directed at me in the wrong way today!"

"Ok, ok!" Orion raised his hands up. "I'm a spirit thousands of years old, don't you think I've seen enough of that stuff already?! And I was about to turn around anyway…"

"You've got quite a bit of sass for a thousand year old spirit."

"You know it." Orion gave her a smirk. The Heroine responded with a puff of annoyance.

"Did anything happen back there on the street with Toma?" Orion asked after a slight pause. He liked to get straight to the point, the heroine noticed. "I sensed that the aura in the area was quite weird when I got back. Like when you're walking on a sunny day and then a cloud covers the sun and you get really cold all of a sudden. That's what it felt like."

Orion's analysis was strikingly similar to the indecipherable expression Toma had put on earlier that day while promising to protect her. His eyes had clouded over, and the light in them had gone out. Even when she had kissed him, his lips were cold and unwelcoming.

"I got a haircut, and not in the way I wanted. Ikki's insane cult of fangirls gave the back of my head a brief trimming. Toma couldn't stop them, and he got pretty upset about it." The heroine explained while slipping her petite figure into Toma's exponentially larger T-shirt.

"Yea, I noticed that your hair was a little shorter in the back than usual."

"Gee, thanks."

"And yea, even if he got really wound up I'm pretty sure it was just because you, someone who he really cared about, were in danger." Orion replied, shrugging. "He's ok now, right? And more importantly, are you ok?"

"Yea, but it would probably be best not to let him dwell on it." She wasn't going to spoil the evening by bringing up unnecessary topics. "And yea, I'm ok." The heroine turned to smile at Orion, hoping to prove it.

"Okay…" Orion said, his tone reflecting what suspicion he still had left. The heroine was already halfway out the bathroom door.

Upon entering the bedroom again, she found Toma sitting on the edge of the checkered bed sheet, his head resting on his hands. A small bedside lamp illuminated the room, casting a warm glow in contrast to the silver moonlight. Beside him was a tray with two mugs, a lone lemon slice garnishing the rim of one of them. She planted herself beside him, the bed creaking despite what little weight she added.

He cocked his head slightly to the right to look at her and gave her a slight smile.

"Hey." His eyes looked so tired. The heroine felt a deep urge to pull him into her arms.

"Hi, sorry I took so long."

"No problem, the tea's still hot, so it's okay." He handed the solitary garnished glass to her. The heroine put the glass to her lips and sipped. He had remembered that she took sugar, probably since she had taken to making herself tea during her lunch breaks at Meido no Hitsuji. She silently thanked him for remembering these kinds of small things as she savoured the subtle sweetness of the sugar coupled with the underlying flavours of lemon and black tea.

It was late at night, and the Heroine lay curled up in a fortress of bed sheets that Toma had made for her. He had tucked her into bed like a child much to her objection (Orion was laughing silently in the background) and provided her with extra blankets because he "didn't want her to be cold during the night." She looked to her right. Ironically, Toma laid in a miserable lump on a futon with a paper-thin bed sheet covering him.

"Toma?"

"Yea?"

"Get in the bed."

"….WHAT?" The curled figure stiffened considerably under the sheet.

"I said get in! You look so miserable! …And also quite lonely if I do say so myself." she coaxed, the corners of her mouth turning up into a slight grin.

With a sigh Toma slowly got up from the futon and climbed into the bed alongside her, undoing the cocoon of blankets he had previously wrapped her with. His cologne had still not worn off, filling the air with the scent of cedar.

She gave him a quick kiss and ran her hand along the outline of his jaw, lingering slightly before moving it down his neck. Even though it was dark she could still see a small fire ablaze in his eyes as he looked at her. It set a small flame ablaze inside her too.

He pressed his forehead gently against hers and whispered "I'm so glad that I have you." He was blushing, and she could feel the heat emanating from his face. "Don't be scared, I won't do anything."

"I know. I trust you." Wow. The bed was getting warm.

"Do you?" Warmer.

"You know I do." Hot.

"Would you trust me if I said I was lying before?" Scorching.

"Maybe." Unbearable.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ahhhh finally!~ I've missed writing! Thanks to all you guys who've followed and favourited the story! *hugs you all* Hopefully I can get more chapters uploaded quicker in the next few months. You guys have no idea what I have in store... ;)

-Melody