K.K.: So I'm back y'all. I apologize for my long absence…I've been busy conquering the world.
Kanda: You mean you've been busy trying to trick some poor idiot into marrying you.
K.K.: Hey! He's not an idiot and it worked, so shuttie. I am getting married and so are you if I have anything to say about it.
Kanda:…you wouldn't.
K.K.: Try me. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea. It's always better not to rush into these things. Besides…I can't ruin the ending for our readers.
Kanda: I am not getting married! I would sooner nail my tongue to table every morning at breakfast.
K.K.: I've said it once and I'll say it again – you will feel differently when I'm done.
Kanda: Che.
K.K.: Just keep your "che's" to a minimum and read.
Kanda: I can't, I've suddenly become blind.
K.K.: Fine, I'll read it to you.
Kanda: Damn.
Fire and Ice
The Fates vs. Kanda and Ayame
Ayame didn't have much time to contemplate her situation with Kanda, because the very next day she was put on assignment with him to Romania. They were packed and standing at the train station within an hour. Ayame glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as they boarded the train. It would be a two hour journey to get where they were going and she was feeling extremely awkward. She didn't know what to say to him – and for his part, he hadn't been exactly talkative. But that was Kanda for you. He had more or less made his intentions known and now the ball was in her court. He would remain silent on the subject until she brought it back up. Which gave her some time to think about her feelings. They spent a while on the train reviewing the data collected for their mission. From the looks of it – it would be a cut and dry akuma extermination – routine for them. Ayame put their files back up in the overhead compartment of their sleeper car room. She told Kanda she was tired and wanted to take a nap. He pulled the shade down for her and then returned to his bench opposite her, crossing his arms and lowering his head. Maybe he would nap too. Ayame wound up sleeping till almost nightfall. She awoke to a sudden lurch from the train, followed by something hitting the engine, causing the locomotive to come to a grinding halt. She was thrown from the bench, but Kanda sprang forward and caught her before she hit the floor. He immediately smashed out their window and swung himself up onto the roof. Ayame climbed up after him, ready for anything. Three akuma floated in formation ahead of them at the front of the train – two level ones and a level two.
"You take the small fry, I'll take the Two," Kanda commanded.
A little begrudgingly, Aya activated her Innocence and flung herself into the fray. One of the benefits of her parasite type Innocence was that it allowed her to adjust the length of her blades at will. She used that feature now to extend the blade along the front of her arm, curving it into a wicked looking scythe. She leapt up to engage the first akuma, twisting to avoid fire from it. With one downward sweep, she cleaved the head in two – then used it to spring-board toward the other before it exploded. She extended the blade on her left arm forward as well, then threw herself into a rapid rotation, effectively passing through the next akuma like a buzz-saw. By the time she landed, Kanda had polished off the Level Two. Passengers from the train were filing out now; some had minor injuries. The fire on the train was isolated to the engine now for the time being, so none were in any further danger.
"We should get out of here before we attract any more akuma."
"Let's go," he agreed, darting into the forest. Ayame followed him, stopping briefly to grab two blankets that had been thrown clear of the wreckage. Those would come in handy if the temperatures dropped that night. She sprinted to keep up with Kanda's pace, tearing through the woods.
"Hey slow down! We're not going to run all the way to the nearest town are we?" she panted.
"The nearest town is thirty miles away. We'll put some distance in between us and the wreckage, then camp for the night," he said, hurdling a log.
"Do you think it's really okay to leave our cases back there?"
"I'm less worried about that, and more concerned with that stunt you pulled back there," he growled.
She put on a burst of speed to come up alongside him, "What are you talking about?"
"Your rapid-rotation maneuver – I don't want to ever see that again. Your left yourself wide open to enemy fire and you were blind to counterattack."
"Hey, it worked didn't it?" she shot back, a little miffed.
"This time – you were lucky."
"Where do you get off telling me which techniques I can and can't use?" she asked, raising her voice.
"When I was put in charge of training you! This is war, not martial arts. When you use showy techniques, you put yourself and your comrades in danger. So kill the habit now."
"First of all, I'm not in-training anymore. You may be my superior – but I made a judgment call back there and took the risk – and it panned out. End of story."
"And I'm telling you that whether or not you escaped with your life, it was still the wrong call."
"But-"
Kanda plowed through a clearing, abruptly turning into her path. She nearly ran into him, but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"I'm not bringing you back home in a body bag…understood?" he ground out between clenched teeth. "We'll camp here tonight. Stay here, I'm going to get us some food."
She just stood staring after him as he left. She had nothing to say back to him – and it frustrated her even more. She knew he was right – but she did not like to be dictated to. Her face was red from running and embarrassment. She was hot and sweating. It dawned on her that they had passed a creek on the way here. She decided to go back and take a quick dip to cool off and wash herself. It would take him a while to find food , and she would be back by then. She found the stream quickly, and was surprised to see a small waterfall that she had not noticed before emptying into a shallow pool. Perfect. She slipped her clothes off and tip-toed into the cold water. It was so refreshing. She stood directly under the falls, letting it wash over her hair and face. This was just what she needed; she almost forgot she was mad at Kanda.
Meanwhile, Kanda came back to their campsite with two freshly slain rabbits, only to find it empty. He assumed she had just gone to relieve herself, and so he busied himself making a fire. After about ten minutes with no sign of her, he went to go find her. He searched the area for her tracks and found them heading the way they had come…odd. He called her several times with no answer. He heard the sound of rushing water and ran towards it, calling her name. He soon found the source of the water…and Ayame.
Ayame pulled her head out from under the water, and heard her name being called. She instinctively turned toward the sound…only to watch Kanda burst into the clearing and come to a screeching halt when he caught sight of her. For an extremely long moment, they just stared at each other. Kanda made a valiant effort to keep his eyes on her face, but it didn't really matter since her image was burned into his brain the moment her saw her. Finally, she recovered enough to speak…sort of.
"You…"
He seemed to snap out of a trance, "Don't call me by that name," he replied automatically.
"No, not Yuu – you…Y – O – U. What are you doing?"
"I told you to stay at camp!" he yelled back.
"Turn around dumbass!"
He complied, turning away from her, but stayed rooted to the spot.
"Geez Kanda," she muttered, "Where are my clothes?" she asked herself, trying to clear her head and remember where she left them.
"Here," he offered, holding out her jacket whilst still facing in the opposite direction.
Ayame sloshed over to him and the rest of her clothes. She snatched the coat roughly from his grasp – simultaneously slipping on a mossy rock. He tried to catch her before she fell, but only managed to drench his pants up to his thighs. She sat there, waist deep in water, her arms wrapped around herself and looking like she was about to cry. He looked to where the rest of her clothes were laying on the rock, but she had managed to splash them as well. Her underwear had missed the brunt of it though, so he slipped those articles into his back pocket discretely. He unbuttoned his long jacket, enter the water behind her to help her up. She seemed to be in a humiliated stupor, thus, she did not protest. He shrugged off his coat, draping it over her shoulders and pulling it tightly around her. He grabbed her soaked clothes, and they went back to camp in silence. She put on her underwear and wrapped up in a blanket while he did the same in silence. They hung their wet clothes on a tree branch in silence. They prepared and cooked the rabbits in silence. They ate the rabbits in silence. They stared at the fire for about twenty minutes in silence. Finally, Ayame mumbled something about going to sleep and walked a little ways away from the fire and curled up in her blanket. She turned her back to Kanda, obviously still mortified about earlier. She wasn't angry at him – it wasn't really his fault. She hadn't figured that he would secure dinner in five minutes flat, but this was Kanda after all. She was so tired of not knowing what to say to him. First, she didn't have anything to say last night in her room – then she clammed up after the stupid waterfall thing. She was frustrated with her own ineptitude and this whole situation. And of course Kanda – who rarely said much to begin with – now had even less to say. She tried to shut her eyes – she would fix things in the morning.
Kanda watcher her out of the corner of his eye as he stoked the fire. She had been lying there for ten minutes, but her breathing showed no signs of falling asleep. He watched her a little closer and noticed her body trembling. Was she crying or just cold? He got up and approached her silently. After a moment, he decided she was cold, and spread his blanket over her before returning to the fire. She remained still for a moment before rolling over to look at him. He continued to stare into the fire, but he could feel her eyes on him. After a while, she got up and put his blanket back around him.
"Keep it," he said quietly.
"No, it's too cold tonight. You can't just sit out here in your underwear…you'll freeze."
"I'll be fine. Just take the blanket and lie down."
"Kanda, I can't sleep knowing you're cold."
"I won't be cold, now take the damn blanket and go lie down," he voice was showing signs of growing impatience.
"Fine, have it your way," she bit back, taking both blankets and lying down where she was before.
"Stubborn woman," he growled under his breath.
She heard him…and replied by throwing his blanket back at him and rolling back over away from him. The next fifteen minutes passed quietly, until the sounds of Ayame's chattering teeth broke the silence. He shook his head at her bullheaded behavior, wondering at his own sanity for falling in love with her. But he had, so without further delay, he walked over to her and picked her up – blanket and all – and brought her back to the fire. He set her down gently, then once again put his blanket over her. Before she could protest, he slid in behind her, pulling the blankets over both of them. He wrapped an arm around her waist, then slipped his other arm beneath her head. Her body went rigid for a moment before she relaxed into his arms, exhaling with a soft sigh. He rested his cheek against her hair, his lips crazing the upper ridge of her ear, "I'm sorry about earlier," he whispered.
"For what?" she asked quietly. "The scolding thing or the naked thing?"
He chuckled, "Both."
She sighed again, "You were right about what I did during the fight. It was reckless and I didn't think it through.
"I just…didn't want…"he seemed to be having difficulty finishing his sentences again.
"You were worried." It wasn't a question. She turned over a little to look at him.
"Yes," he breathed.
"And the other thing…"
He seemed to be at an utter loss for words, probably thanks to mental image that kept looping in his head.
"…was my fault too," she finished. "I didn't think you'd be back from hunting so soon…I planned on being back before you were."
"I should have been more aware of my surroundings," he said.
"Really, 'cause you looked very aware of your surroundings when I saw you," she replied, smirking at him.
"Hn. I wasn't aware of anything around me at all. Just you."
His gray eyes held a strange blue light in them as he looked down at her. She met his gaze with glassy green eyes, holding him there. He leaned over her a little further, reaching up to touch her cheek with long, calloused fingers. She closed her eyes, leaning into his hand. His caress abandoned her face to tangle itself into her dark hair – still damp from her bath. His began its slow decent to hers, but his eyes were not asking permission. It didn't matter – Ayame was through running from him. She wanted this more than anything, she told herself as her heart thundered in her chest. He was so close, but time seemed to slow as he closed the distance. Too slow. His breath tickled her nose, his lips hovering just above hers. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore. She lifted her face the remaining inch and captured his lips. His response was immediate. He pushed her back down into the crook of his arm, tightening his grip on her. His lips were bruising at he pressed her further. He let up for a moment, trailing kisses down her jaw as she caught her breath. But he was by no means finished. Ayame gasped when he returned to her mouth, flicking his tongue over her lower lip, requesting entrance. She slowly parted her lips for him as he ran his tongue over her teeth, slowly rubbing against the top of her tongue. She decided that this wasn't as weird as she had originally thought, sliding her tongue over his and delving into his mouth. He brought his teeth down gently, teasing her tongue and lower lip. He pressed even closer to her, tightening his embrace. The fingers of his left hand brushed against her breast, causing an involuntary shiver to run down her spine. She ran a hand over the smooth skin of his chest, then reached up to untie his hair. It fell, curtaining them both beneath a jet black veil. He pulled back again, burying his face in her throat, kissing her along her collarbone and up the ridge of her neck to her ear, which he contented himself nibbling on. She leaned her head against his arm, giving him better access. She giggled when he nipped her ear, nudging his face away…then lifted hers to bite him back, catching him where his neck met his shoulder. He made a growling sound deep in his throat, staying still as she nipped and nuzzled his neck and throat. She pulled him close to her, clinging to him as thought her very existence depending on him holding her here in this moment. Finally, he rolled over on his back, half turning her with him. She rested her head against his chest, cuddling up close to him. His heart was pounding beneath her ear, his breathing coming a little raggedly. He pulled the twisted blankets back over them, wrapping her up in his arms. She rubbed her cheek against his warm skin, just enjoying the feel of the contact. He combed through her hair with his fingers, resting his chin on her head.
"Kanda?"
"Yes?"
"What am I to you?"
"Do you not know?"
"Say it."
"You're the most precious person in the world to me," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. He paused, as if struggling with his next words, "And I love you."
She lifted her head to look at him, her green eyes large and brilliant, "I love you too."
He smiled at her. It was the first time she had ever seen him genuinely smile…it was beautiful. She leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the lips, then snuggled back down against him. Sleep found them both quickly, content in each other's arms.
K.K.: Kanda…Kanda? Are you okay? You look, um –
Kanda: Like I'm contemplating ritual suicide? How did you know?
K.K.: Oh, come now, it's not that bad. So your life got a little fluffier, what's the big deal?
Kanda: You ruined me. You absolutely ruined me.
K.K.: Yeah but…you're happy now.
Kanda: Do I look like I need to be happy?
K.K.: In a word…yes.
Kanda: *sigh* I just…I don't like it.
K.K.: I think you do and you don't want to admit it. Classic repression. How was your relationship with your mom?
Kanda: *glare*
K.K.: That's okay, we can come back to that question. Okay, peoples…as Kanda and I begin to explore the inner workings of his mind and try to decipher why he's so freaking messed up…let me know what you think of our little story here. Reviews are welcome. Again, sorry for the wait – I promise to stay on top of these now.
