DISCLAIMER: I don't own CCS. How awesome would it be if I did? Right, so maybe it's just me.
Live Forever, Die Tomorrow – Never Say Never
Nakuru looked at the piece of paper she held in her hands.
She half wrote an email, but decided it was all wrong. She'd made several attempts to try and call Kaho Kinomoto and thank her for the offer, but explain that it just wasn't right for her. She had dialled the number several times, hanging up as she caught the first ring, and even penned a very eloquent letter.
But something in her just wouldn't let her say no. Try as she might she just couldn't bring herself to say no.
Something deep inside told her that saying no would be the biggest mistake of her life, and she didn't want to risk it being true.
There was just something . . .
Maybe it was the way that Kaho had smiled at her, so warm and understanding. Maybe it was the look on Yukito's face when she told him about the Pavlova. Maybe it was the mysterious book left on the table.
It was something . . .
Nakuru nodded to herself determinedly as she picked up the phone. She was going to do it; she was going to pick up the phone and call Kaho and she would decide what to say once she got there.
"Moushi Moushi?" a male voice answered after two rings.
Nakuru was taken aback. For some reason she had expected Kaho (maybe even Yukito) to answer the phone. She had completely forgotten about Kaho's husband and the fact that he might live at the same house and possibly answer the same phone.
"Uh . . . um . . . I'm calling for Kinomoto Kaho," Nakuru said nervously.
Nakuru seemed to sense the man on the other end of the phone nod his head silently which she thought was a very strange action to make to a telephone. "I'll go get her for you."
"Hello," Kaho said, picking up the phone a few moments later, "Kaho speaking."
"Um . . . hi . . ." Nakuru forced out. "It's Akizuki Nakuru."
Kaho sound pleased to hear from her. "I'm so glad you called Nakuru-san," Kaho replied. "I do hope it's good news."
"Um . . . hai . . ." Nakuru said once more, the meaning changing slightly. "At least I think it's good."
"If you're calling to accept my offer, then it is very good," Kaho said softly.
"Hai," Nakuru replied quietly because she knew that she could not possibly decline Kaho's proposal.
Kaho sounded very pleased. "Thank you Nakuru-san. Do you think you could come see me tomorrow afternoon?" she asked pleasantly. "We can talk more and you can meet Touya."
"It would be my pleasure," she replied.
~*©*~
Touya walked into the house, tired from a long day at work. He was a junior advisor in the loans department of the bank, and it was very rarely fun. Occasionally he got to give somebody a loan for something they really wanted and that usually made his day, but most of it was rather unexhilarating.
"Honey I'm home," he called jokingly as he hung up his coat and put his briefcase down.
"Hi," a girl said, jumping up from the couch as he spoke and bowing her head politely.
Touya was struck by her for a moment. The girl (which obviously was not the right word to describe her she being at least twenty) had bright amber eyes and dark brown hair, which hung loosely down to her waist. She smiled at him awkwardly, and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as she looked at him. She was beautiful but in a subdued and innocent sort of way.
"Well you're certainly not my wife," Touya said with a slight smile as he looked at her. She blushed red and looked at the ground, and Touya couldn't help but grin. "Kinomoto Touya," he said cordially, offering her his hand.
"Akizuki Nakuru," she replied accepting his hand, his kindness relaxing her.
Her smile widened a little and he couldn't help but notice the way it seemed to light up her eyes. Her hands were soft and warm, just as he would imagine them to be. They felt small and fragile in his own hand.
"You're very polite," Nakuru began as her hand slipped from his, "considering you have no idea why I'm here. What if I was a burglar or something?"
Touya smiled back at her. "You don't look like a burglar," he replied, eying her up and down. "But more importantly – if you are a burglar you are the worst burglar I've ever met in my life."
"How so?" Nakuru asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, looking as though he had just insulted her pride. It was only the brightness of her eyes as she feigned outrage that gave her away.
"Well for starters you gave away your name," he pointed out with a teasing smile. "The police are going to come in here and say to me 'Can you give us any leads Mr. Kinomoto?' and I'll reply: 'Well of course officers. She told me her name was Akizuki Nakuru.'"
"It could be a fake name," she supplied, but he shook his head. She screwed up her nose in response, looking mildly annoyed. "Well I'm sure it's a common name."
"Perhaps," he said, putting a finger to his chin in mock thought, "but I'll also have a physical description. It will be more than enough to get you locked up for good."
"Fine. What else?" Nakuru said, poking her tongue out at him in a very immature gesture.
"Isn't that enough?" he asked, grinning back at her. He resisted the urge to poke his tongue back at her. She made him feel a bit like a child and even reminded him a little of breakfast conversations with Sakura.
"You said for starters," she explained. "That implies that you had more than one point to make."
"I suppose I can't argue with that sort logic," he replied, enjoying talking with her more than he expected. He hadn't meant to start up a conversation in this manner, but the way she looked so cute and fidgety standing there had put him in a strange mood. Something about her put him in this kind of mood.
"This is probably the key point in burglar ineptness," he told her, pretending to be very serious. "I just caught you slacking off on the job. You're supposed to be stealing my couch, not sitting on it."
"Touche," she replied, smiling back at him. "I am the worst cat burglar in the history of disorganised crime. Happy now?"
Touya was about to respond to her when his wife walked in carrying a tray of tea and biscuits.
"Touya you're just in time," Kaho said, smiling mildly as she entered the room. "I see you've met Nakuru-chan. She is here to help me with our lists."
"Our lists?" Touya asked, watching his wife carefully.
"The one's we wrote of things to do before we die," Kaho explained again. "Nakuru-chan is going to help us check them off," she added giving him an almost knowing smile.
Touya froze, his eyes narrowing and his smile slipping off his face.
"Akizuki-san could you excuse us for a moment?" Touya asked politely. "I just have to talk to my wife for a moment."
Nakuru nodded, as Touya took Kaho into the next room.
"I thought you had let all this business about me being happy go," Touya said, remembering their conversation about a week ago when Kaho said she was going to leave things be and let the universe work things out for itself. Kaho had seemed quite resolve to simply let it go only a couple of days ago.
"It's not what you think," Kaho explained, trying to calm Touya. "She's not here to help with my list; she's here to help with yours."
"I don't understand," Touya replied, looking grouchy and confused. He hated being out of the loop.
"There were a few thing on your list that looked like you might need a hand with them, and I didn't think I'd be able to help," Kaho shrugged. "Like skydiving – you can't skydive by yourself and because of my heart I can't skydive with you. Just the thought of it is hazardous to my health."
"But why not just get Yukito or Sakura to come with me?" he said, feeling rather put out by this sudden intrusion. He was annoyed that Kaho didn't seem to trust him to simply do these things on his own.
"Because unlike your best friend or little sister," Kaho explained in an even tone, "Nakuru isn't going to let you talk your way out of things. In fact she's been instructed that she's not to let you badger or beg your way out of anything."
Touya still look annoyed and untrusting. Kaho knew he was right not to believe her – she was doing exactly what he thought she was doing.
Yukito was right. Touya would never agree to what she had planned originally – that was why she had apparently resolved to give it all up. But if she could force Touya and Nakuru to be friends then she was sure she could get them together somehow.
"She seems nice don't you think?" Kaho asked. Touya eyed her suspiciously not responding. "And she's very excited about this," she added. "You're don't want to be the one to go and ruin this for her?" she asked knowingly.
Touya sighed. "I still don't trust you, but I'm willing to give things a try," he replied cautiously.
"Good," Kaho responded. "Because you promised . . . and I'm dying . . ."
~ to be continued ~
If you have read any of my other fics you'll know that I like to take a phrase or something and run it through as a continuous theme and Kaho's promise/dying is gonna be a bit like that in this one. It's going to be really significant in the end so I have to really establish it before the story gets there.
So what did you all think of Touya and Nakuru's first meeting. Probably not as tumultuous as you would expect, but I thought they were kind of cute in the burglar scene. Review if you agree. Review if you disagree. Review if you accidentally stumbled upon this fic and are now need of a lobotomy to help you forget that you were ever here. Review if you have a good reason not to review - I'm all inclusive here.
