Kissed by the Wind Chapter 2

The Long Walk Home

"Haha! You can't finish that big burger. You must still be a little kid, yourself, Mannen." Hajime pointed and laughed as Mannen shoved more of the 1 pounder burger into his mouth and munched while angrily glaring back at the younger boy.

Kei enjoyed a grilled chicken salad, Mannen a cheeseburger and fries, and Hajime had chicken nuggets and barbeque sauce. Himeno was enjoying a chicken ranch club sandwich, while Hayate sat quietly across the table. The younger Knights chattered at eachother, but Himeno and Hayate didn't seem to notice much.

Kei regarded Himeno, tilting his head, "Are you okay, Himeno..?" He asked softly.

Himeno blinked at Kei, and nodded, "Oh, yes. This sandwich is great. I'm having a great day. Why do you ask..?" She lied. She was feeling a little tired and self conscious of Hayate, who seemed to be simply sitting there and staring over at her. She was trying to ignore it.

"You look a little tired, that's all. I was thinking perhaps the boys might have been a bit much excitement for you today. They can be a bit much to keep up with.." Kei offered her an easy out, but he too had noticed Hayate's odd stare.

"Oh, no. I'm fine, really." She nodded, talking between bites of her sandwich, "How about you, Kei?"

Kei perked up, grinning, "Well, I'm having a great day! I completed four designs today before noon, two of which have already gotten excellent responses from my clients. The meeting this morning with HalCor went exceptionally well, stock is up 2.4 for the month already, and we just hired in a new guy that has some really great networking ideas that I'm positive will maximize the safety and efficiency of the work in our office. The production of... with a 16 increase... and a new salespitch... designing corporations... exceptional sales skill... punctual assignments... several sales diagrams that show great potential for expansion within the next few months... another matrix..." Kei seemed to continue on for 8 or 10 minutes.

Hayate continued to stare intently over at Himeno, who occasionally glanced his way, then averted her eyes back to Kei, and nodded as though she were listening. In truth, she felt terrible for being distracted as Kei spilled exciting news about his job and company, even though she wouldn't understand a word of it anyhow.

"... and that's how that turned out. So this is a really great week for me, thanks for asking!" Kei nodded and took another bite of his salad.

"WoW .. that's just great Kei! Congratulations. You're so successful." Himeno offered as genuinely as possible, and Kei beamed in response.

"So.. um. How about you, Hayate?" Himeno asked, staring down at her burger.

"Oh. I'm fine." Was all the response she got, and Kei frowned.

"Himeno acts differently when you're around, Hayate. What'd you say to her, you jerk?" Mannen burst into the conversation like a wrecking ball.

There was silence while Kei finished chewing his grilled chicken. "That was rude and very uncalled for, kiddo." He wiped his hands upon his napkin, reached over, and shoved Mannen clear out of his chair and onto the floor. Mannen laughed, picking himself back up and settling back into his chair.

"Aw. Come on.. I was just kidding. Trying to get under Hayate's skin. It bugs me how he sits there looking so intense and serious. That's all. And Himeno seemed a little nervous..." Mannen took a sip of his pop, silenced by a glare from Kei.

There was another awkward silence.

"Well, I haven't seen you lately, Hayate. You must be busy." Himeno offered.

Hayate nodded. "I've been working a lot. Your father keeps me busy at the far end of the property." Likely that had been purposeful on her father's part. He had noticed the spark between Hayate and Himeno long ago, and likely wanted to protect her from heartbreak or worse.

Himeno and Kei each ordered a banana split, and the younger knights each ordered an icecream cone for dessert. Once everyone had finished their food, everyone began to stand and stretch. Mostly everyone had plans. Mannen, Hajime and Shin were heading to the park to play some ball and Kei had quite a bit of office work to finish.

"Well, this is goodbye, then. Lovely seeing you again, Himeno. You call me whenever you feel like having lunch or dinner. I could use the company and the distraction from work." Kei held Himeno's hand within his own and gave it a gentle squeeze before turning to exit behind the younger Knights.

"Thank you, Kei. I'll call. Don't work too hard." She smiled, then glanced up at Hayate

"So.. are you heading back to the estate? If so, I'll walk with you since it's not far. It'd be silly to catch a ride and miss out on this pretty sunny afternoon.." Himeno smiled genuinely up at Hayate, who couldn't help but nod and follow her out.

The walk back would take about twenty five minutes, and would be filled with silence, if not for Himeno trying to make small-talk to ease the tension.

This is so strange. Why am I so tense? Himeno thought to herself. I seriously doubt Hayate saw me this morning.. I would have noticed him there. Besides, why would he just be hanging out on my balcony, anyhow? That's just silly. Maybe he would have said something if he saw me? No.. I wouldn't say anything if I were him. What would he say, anyhow? Excuse me, Himeno, I was hanging out on your balcony and accidentally saw you in your panties. That just wouldn't be right... Silence is safer for him. And less embarassing. But I doubt he was there, so why am I stressing over this? And why have I been having such odd dreams?

"The movie was really cute. I enjoyed it. I wish you could have come with us, but I know how busy you've been lately. Maybe we can catch a movie later this week? I mean.. not you and I.. err.. maybe we all can catch a movie later this week. Yeah. Something funny. How about Hancock? I heard that movie was okay.." Himeno rambled on.

They stopped in the courtyard where the stream crossed the garden beneath a small stone bridge. This was her favorite part of the estate. She stopped to look out over the lush green lawn, rambling rose buses, and various other flowers and bushes that Mr. Tanaka and other employees of the estate strived so hard to keep looking lovely. You could tell that a lot of love was put into the upkeep of this part of the garden. Perhaps that's why Himeno liked it so much.

Himeno smiled as she turned to look up at Hayate, who stood suddenly very close, or perhaps she just hadn't noticed how near he was before. She gasped as he stepped even closer suddenly. She could feel the warmth radiating from his chest, inviting. He reached out and cupped her cheek with his left hand. Himeno suddenly felt lightheaded as he leaned in and pressed his lips to her cheek, just to the left of her lips. Himeno's eyes drifted shut as her breath caught in her chest and he lingered like that a few moments longer before standing up strait again, and stepping back.

Himeno suddenly felt very cold standing there, and longed for Hayate to be close once again. Images from past dreams flashed through her mind, and she felt something burning in the pit of her stomach. Something that made her legs feel weak, as if she could just fall into his arms again.

Finally, she opened her eyes and peered up at Hayate, who's expression seemed very pained and lost.

"You... had chocolate on your cheek." He licked his lips, and chuckled. "That must have been a delicious sundae."

Himeno's cheeks burned bright red at his confession. "How embarassing.." Had she really been wearing chocolate on her cheek that entire time? She lowered her gaze to her feet, knowing she wanted something more from Hayate than just a kiss, but not knowing at this point exactly what to do. She stood like that for several minutes.

"Well, Tulip-Head. Are you going to stand there like a statue, or are you going to rejoin the land of the living?" Hayate laughed, taking a step back and fully expecting the swing that would come his way moments later. And sure enough, Himeno clenched her fists, and lunged in his direction, swinging.

"That's more like the Himeno I know." The swirl of wind caused by Hayate's energetic dodge, combined with her own momentum, sent her stumbling and careening almost off the bridge and into the stream. She felt herself falling, but a strong hand grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back upright and into his strong embrace, where his lips met her own for a mere second.

"Miss Himenoooooooooooo! Is that you there in the garden? Your family is having tea in the parlor and would like you to join them." Tanaka's voice was most unexpected.

Himeno felt herself shoved away, and then standing alone on that bridge as the wind carried her Knight away.

"... what the heck." She frowned to herself as she glanced around. The remaining walk back to the house would give her enough time to reflect on some of what just happened and perhaps compose herself to face her family for a short time.