A feint beeping noise woke me up very slowly. I tried opening my eyes, but they felt heavy. I tried again, success. I was in a room, everything blurred, head pounding, tubes up my nose, people with clip boards moving around, shuffling papers, more beeping. I looked to my left a bit and tried to make out the person who was holding onto my hand, I looked around again and saw a red haired woman leaned against the room door with her arms crossed, she looked relieved that I had my blurry vision set on her. She didn't move though. I looked down to my left again and made out a head with light brown hair sleeping and holding on to my hand. I suddenly realized where I was and what happened. 'Shizuru!' I quickly opened my eyes and sat up. I then realized the red haired woman was Nao. Nao made her way to me and put her hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down in a lying down position.

"It's okay, Natsuki. Lay down, Shizuru's here." Nao looked at me with worried eyes and was making her way back to her place on the wall. My sudden movement caused the person left of me to wake up. As Nao went back, I looked down to the person who was holding onto my hand for dear life. 'Shizuru...' Shizuru looked like a mess, her eyes were all red and puffy. Shizuru was trembling when she saw I was awake. She started to cry and launched up to hug me. Her tight embrace around my neck hurt, but the pain slowly faded as I got my vision back and the warmth from her also warmed my heart. I tried to move my arms to hug back, but the intense pain reminded me of why I was here.

"Natsuki! My... Natsuki. " Shizuru sobbed into my neck. Her grip around me grew tighter, and my need to hug her back was intense. I felt her warm tears fall from her eyes onto my neck. Shizuru was shaking a lot. Nao couldn't stand to see any more. She wanted us to be alone. Nao looked at me and gave me a nod, I nodded back, giving her the okay. We were alone, and Shizuru was in no position of letting me go. Her sobbing died down a bit into hiccups and sniffles. My energy was coming back and I tried to hug her again. I finally got my arms to obey and the pain was horrible, but I got to hold her in my arms again. I put my arms around her chest and puller her closer. I clenched my teeth at the pain, but got through. Shizuru muffled a sentence into my neck.

"I thought you were... I though... " Before Shizuru could finish, she burst Into tears again. I held her tight, trying to tell her that I'm okay. I couldn't form words yet, but if I could, I'd tell her everything. I trailed one hand up to her face. I tilted her chin up and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Shizuru's eyes lit up and she let out a feint smile. I smiled back and patted her head. I looked over Shizuru's head to the door and noticed someone coming in. She looked like a doctor. Shizuru slowly got off of the hospital bed and went into the chair placed beside my bed. The person who looked like a doctor, 'or should I say nurse...' sat down on the opposite side of me. I looked at Shizuru and smiled, and then tilted my head to the right, and looked at the woman. She had a clip board in her hand and a pen. She started asking me questions.

"I see you're awake, Miss. Kuga. Do you have any intense pain? Like a headache by any chance? If you're still recuperating, just give me a Nod." I nodded at both her questions.

"Alright then, that's normal. You went full speed into traffic! You're lucky you only came out with a broken arm and a small skull fracture. Your helmet protected you from major damage. If you didn't have it, that'd be bad news." I gave myself a high five inside my head. 'I'm alive.' This wasn't the first accident I've been in. It was the first major one where my life was at risk though. My trail of thought got interrupted when the nurse started to ask questions again.

"So, Miss. Kuga, Is this your friend?" The nurse looked up at me, I nodded. I somehow had the urge to speak. 'She's not just my friend.' My vocal chords seemed to be working again, but my throat was dry and I sounded like I was really sick, but I still got to say what I wanted.

"She's.. My girlfriend." I spoke really slowly, since I was still getting used to talking with tubes shoved down my throat. The nurse raised a brow and then looked at Shizuru. Shizuru slightly blushed, but looked happy. I outstretched my hand to Shizuru, and she held on. Shizuru was able to be cute even when she's been crying, I was really impressed. We both shared a smile, I looked back at the nurse. She had a delighted look on her face.

"That's wonderful. Be sure to thank your other visitor too! She's the one that drove your girlfriend all the way here to see you." I turned my head to Shizuru again, in disbelief. Shizuru nodded. Nao did that for me? I didn't know she was such a good friend. I needed to thank her when I got out of the hospital.

The nurse then started to talk to Shizuru. Shizuru was deep in thought, and too full of emotion that she stuttered when she was being spoken to.

"What's your name?" The nurse asked Shizuru. She smiled and tried to act like her girlfriend wasn't wounded right in front of her.

"Fujino, Shizuru Fujino." She gave her best smile. The nurse smiled back and asked Shizuru to help her with wrapping my arm.

"I need you to help lift if Miss. Kuga's arm. She'll need to keep it up while I wrap it, you have to hold on to her and not let her go, alright?" The nurse let out a wink. Shizuru blushed and looked at me. I laughed a bit and smiled. I sat up and nodded, giving a sign to Shizuru that I was alright to be handled with. Shizuru took my arm and slowly lifted it from the bed sheets. I flinched at the sudden pain and movement. The nurse started to take out all of the needles and tubes from my body. I hated needles. I got them quite often though, I winded up in the hospital once every few months anyways. Shizuru held my arm up a bit higher than I expected, the part where it was broken suddenly stung, I felt intense pain. I clenched my teeth and waited for the doctor to place my broken arm in the right position to heal. The pain was almost unbearable. Never in my life have I experienced a broken bone, It really hurt.

"I'm sorry Natsuki. This may hurt now, but I'm taking you home after this, okay?" Shizuru somehow knew how to take my pain away. I nodded and took whatever pain came my way. The nurse made her way around my bed to where Shizuru was sitting with some bandage and plaster for the cast. They acted as a team to get the bandage and plaster on, finally, the work was done and was set to dry. The nurse got up and made her way to the door, leaving Shizuru and me a bit confused.

"Miss. Kuga, Miss. Fujino, I'll be leaving you two for now until the plaster dries. I'll be back soon to put you in a wheelchair, since you might have severe headaches if you get up and walk. Take it easy for now." I got a wink and a smile from the nurse. Both me and Shizuru shared a laugh. I was wondering what Shizuru meant by 'home'. I was quite curious as to where she was planning to go.

"You're taking me home? Where would that be?" I gave Shizuru a grin. She blushed and started to fidget with her hands.

" I was thinking I could, well, Nao could take us to your apartment. I would love to visit and help you heal up." Shizuru gave one of her innocent smiles again. I pictured my apartment, remembering it was quite small and only had one bed.

"I don't know if it's a good idea.. I only have one bed, where would I sleep?" Shizuru was impressed at how gentlemanly I was, implying that I was the one that was going to sleep else where. Shizuru could have taken the bed, It didn't matter to me, I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. Shizuru leaned on to the hospital bed and gave me a quick kiss on my forehead.

"Natsuki is not going to be sleeping anywhere else. Natsuki is sleeping with me." Before I had any time to react or blush, the nurse walked in on our little moment. 'Fucking cast dries so quickly.' She didn't seem to notice that Shizuru was slightly leaned over to me. 'Thank god... ' She sat down in her usual seat, opposite of Shizuru. She checked my temperature and made sure I was ready to be placed in a wheel chair. Before she left to get the chair, I stopped her. My body was quite alright... So I decided not to go with it.

"Miss, I'm sure I can walk on my own. No need to get the wheelchair." Shizuru and the nurse both looked at me in shock, for someone who had a bandage wrapped around my head, bruises everywhere, and a broken arm, I was trying to act tough. It wasn't an act though. Shizuru was the first to try to stop me from getting out of the bed.

"Natsuki! Please, you're going to hurt yourself." Shizuru was holding on to my other non-casted arm trying to hold me down, preventing me from standing up. The nurse watched as I struggled with Shizuru to get up.

"It's okay, Fujino-san. If Kuga-san feels like she can walk, I think she can do it. You two can head to the front office and fill some papers, then you can go home. If Miss. Kuga has any sharp pains or headaches just call." The nurse said her goodbyes and closed the door behind her as she left. Shizuru pouted. I knew she didn't want to see me in pain, but I wasn't.

"I'm fine Shizuru, I can walk. If I wasn't strong enough to get up on my own, who do you think carried you so many times to bed?" I gave Shizuru a playful grin. She blushed and slapped my leg lightly. I laughed and took Shizuru's hand. I finally got up off of the hospital bed. Me and Shizuru were face to face. 'Well, not technically. Shizuru was taller than me, but you get it.' I leaned into Shizuru's chest and wrapped my arms around her waist, giving her the best hug I could with my one broken arm. I muffled words into her chest.

"Let's go home." I nuzzled into Shizuru's chest a bit more and then pulled away from her warmth. The moment was broken when I realized Nao was standing in the doorway. Me and Shizuru both blushed and parted. 'Can me and Shizuru get more than 5 minutes together without being disturbed!' Nao laughed and twirled a keychain containing her car key around her finger.

"C'mon love birds. Go to the front, fill your papers and were out of here. I hate hospitals." Nao shivered at the word 'hospital'. She probably had a bad experience. I took Shizuru's hand, we decided that Nao would go get the car and wait for me and Shizuru at the front, so I wouldn't have to do a lot of 'walking'. Me and Shizuru went to the front office, filled everything out, and said goodbye to the kind people inside the building. Nao was honking like some crazy bitch. I opened the back seat door for Shizuru with the un-bandaged arm, but Shizuru ran behind me and insisted I went first. I didn't want to argue about little things like gentlemanly-ness, so I gave in and seated myself at the back. Soon after, Shizuru got in beside me and shut the door. She snuggled up to my side. Nao tilted her car mirror so she could see us, I gave her a glare, she automatically turned the mirror away and started to drive. Content with my death stare, I focused on the warmth Shizuru was giving me. Shizuru propped her feet up on the seat and laid her head on my lap, before I even got a chance to say anything, she fell asleep. Nao tilted her mirror to look at me again and realized I had a confused expression. She began to explain why Shizuru had just been sucked into the black oblivion called sleep.

"You were out for a good 3 days, Natsuki. I brought Shizuru as fast as I could. She stayed at the hospital beside you and refused to leave, she stayed awake, only fell asleep an hour before you woke up on your own. I visited everyday to check up on you too, kiddo, even gave Shizuru stuff to eat, but she didn't have much of an appetite." Nao suddenly got a troubled look on her face, but kept her eyes focused on the road. I looked down to see the exhausted Shizuru passed out on my lap. I smiled at the thought of her doing all of that for me. I slid my fingers through her soft, silky, chestnut coloured hair. Shizuru moved a bit and snuggled into my lap a bit more, her expression changing in her sleep. A thought suddenly entered my mind. 'Shizuru is in this state because of me. I was trying to get to her and make sure she was safe, when she was probably fine without me. I put my life in critical danger and just ended up putting us both in a bad position. I'm sorry, Shizuru. I'll explain everything to you later, I hope you won't hate me for it.' A troubled look made its way onto my face. I stroked Shizuru's cheek with my hand

"I'm sorry, Shizuru.. This is my fault." I half whispered into Shizuru's ear so Nao wouldn't hear it. The whole way home I watched as Shizuru's expression changed. I then realized it wasn't only changing because I was touching her face all the time, but she was also dreaming. In the short while we've been together, I noticed Shizuru had a thing for talking in her sleep. 'What are you dreaming about in there, Shizuru...' I was so enchanted by her face that I didn't notice where we were. I took a quick look around, we were near my apartment. Nao parked in front of my apartment. I realized I couldn't carry Shizuru with only one bruised arm, so I asked Nao.

"Hey, Uhm, can you carry Shizuru inside? As you can see, I'm not fit for the job at the moment." I blushed a bit at the request. I wanted to be the only one that held Shizuru like that, although I don't know if anybody already has, since I don't know much about her past. ' I'm just being really selfish...' Nao made her way to me and rustled my hair, being careful not to do it to hard, since my head was injured.

"Sure, you go first and hold the doors open." Nao winked and leaned into the back seat of the car. She put one arm under Shizuru's legs and one arm around her waist, leaning back a bit to keep Shizuru's head against her shoulder. I hurried and opened the building doors enough for two people. We made our way to the elevator. I pressed the button and we waited. The elevator came down and the doors opened. A man who was inside the elevator got out and looked at us weirdly. I wasn't surprised though. A girl holding a sleeping girl in a prince-like fashion, and another girl who is all bandaged up, all in a group. ' We look so natural.' The man proceeded to walk out of the building while Me and Nao took up the whole elevator. The doors closed, I took the chance to look at Shizuru. Nao noticed but didn't say anything. Shizuru was sound asleep, mouth slightly open, breathing lightly. My mind got carried away when I finally heard a ding. The doors opened. We were on my floor. I sighed fantasizing about her as I made my way to the door. Nao had my key in her pocket, since they had to strip me of my clothes at the hospital. 'It's not like my jeans or shirt survived that anyways...' She asked me to help get the keys since she was holding Shizuru. I got the key out of her pocket and opened the door. My apartment was fairly cleaned, but I had time to clean it properly while Shizuru was asleep. I showed Nao where my room was. She put Shizuru down on my bed. Shizuru moved around a bit and got comfortable. Me and Nao laughed at Shizuru's funny sleeping position. Nao made her way to the door and said her goodbyes soon after.

"I'll get going, give you guys time to rest. If Shizuru wants a drive back before your arm heals, let me know." I nodded as Nao closed the door behind her on the way out. I turned to go check on Shizuru. She was happily drooling into my pillow. My stomach was irritating me and was telling me to eat, so I went on a hunt. I looked through my drawers and found chips. My appetite for chips suddenly heightened. I sat my ass on the couch and proceeded to open the delicious snack. The moment I tried opening the bag, it sounded like one thousand annoying candy wrappers had been unleashed all at once. It was harder to keep it quiet when one end was in my mouth and the other gripped with my un-bandaged hand. 'Shit, I'm going to wake up Shizuru...' I opened the bag as slowly as I could. I finally got it to open with a loud pop. 'Shit!' I stopped and listened if there was any movement on the bed. Nothing. I proceeded to open the bag to it's fullest and indulge in my tasty potato delicacy. I stuffed my face with as many chips as I could without making too much noise, I stopped to listen for Shizuru. It was quiet.. 'too quiet...' I leaned to look into my bedroom. I noticed the bed was neatly done, and I also noticed somebody missing. It finally registered in my mind that Shizuru was gone, I quickly looked around and spotted a figure at the corner of my eye. I turned my head only to have a pillow thrown into my face. It fell off, leaving my hair completely messed up. I looked at Shizuru from head to toe. Still, beautiful as always, but still on the tired side. She pouted at me and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Natsuki, Ikezu. Making such awful noise while I'm trying to sleep." Shizuru cut her little pouting act and made her way to the couch and sat down beside me. Shizuru laughed at the wonderful messy masterpiece she had done with my hair. She tilted my head to face her and started to gently stroke my hair back to how it was before. She slowly put the final piece behind my ear. I blushed a bit at her touch. I found this to be the perfect opportunity to tell Shizuru about what happened. I took Shizuru's hand and held it.

"I have something to tell you…" I looked into Shizuru's dark crimson red eyes. She leaned sideways into the couch and tilted her head a bit in confusion.

"Go ahead, Natsuki." Shizuru's grip on my hand tightened, I squeezed back.

"Well, the only reason I went full speed into traffic wasn't because my bike malfunctioned again. The truth is, when I heard there was going to be crappy weather all day, I automatically thought back to how you were scared of storms and stuff, so I tried to get to you as fast as I could, but the roads were dangerous from the rain made my tires slip. I know, I know, you were probably fine without me, you have been all these years, anyways. I realized that at the hospital when I woke up. I'm sorry, Shizuru. You stayed and waited for me at my side, but this is all my fault." I looked Shizuru in the eyes. She looked really depressed. 'You don't know how sorry I am'.

"I'm happy that Natsuki thought about me like this, but putting yourself in danger like that. I know you were worried about me, as you said, I was quite alright. I would have been delighted if you were there with me like the first day we met, it was really nice of you, but please, never risk yourself for me. You're really special to me, Natsuki. The first day they brought you in I thought you were gone. Please don't ever make me worry like that again." Shizuru's words struck my heart like arrows. I didn't know I made such an impact on her life. I was never special to anybody so this feeling was totally new to me. I always thought, ' I could have been killed' and never thought anything of it, but everything up until now made me realize, ' I could have died, I would have left Shizuru alone again' I somehow treasured my life. Shizuru was my treasure in life, I needed to keep her safe, I needed to keep us safe. I leaned into Shizuru for a kiss, but she dodged my lips and she leaned into my neck, embracing me. I laughed and hugged back with all of my effort.

"I'm sorry, Shizuru. I'll be sure those are the last tears you shed." I put up a manly act to get her to lighten up a bit, but she fired a tease right back.

"What if they're tears of joy? Or pleasure. Natsuki didn't think this through, did she?" I could tell Shizuru had her victory smile on. I took on the meaning of everything and turned really red. I blushed so hard steam could have been coming from my face. I pushed Shizuru away and tried to regain myself. I put one hand over my mouth and back away into the corner of the couch. A scream was creeping from the back of my throat, I let all of my embarrassment out in one shout.

"SH-SHIZURU!" Not giving a flying fuck about what time of night or day it was, I shouted Shizuru's name out into my apartment, not caring who would hear or complain. Shizuru laughed and got up off of the couch, giving me some space. I took some deep breaths, the ting of red slowly left my face.

"Geeze, Shizuru. What are you thinking about?" I tried looking away, since looking at Shizuru's body would have made it even worse. Shizuru leaned against the door frame to the kitchen.

"I was thinking about you." Shizuru's smile slowly turned into a frown. Her sudden change in expression made my heart ache.

"Shizuru, come here…" I couldn't stand to see her like this. I patted my lap. Shizuru's expression lit up, she made her way to me. She straddled my legs. She was a lot taller than me at this point, looking down at me while she sat on my lap. I touched my forehead to hers and smiled.

"I'm sorry, I'm not good with this whole 'relationship' thing. I'll try my best to open my heart up to you. Right now, the best I can do is k-..Kiss you. I want to make you happy, I really do, but I just can't go past that yet." I put my arm around her waist and trailed my way up her back. Shizuru shivered at my touch.

"I won't do anything Natsuki doesn't want. I'll wait for you as long as it takes." Shizuru put her hands on my cheeks and squished them together, making my face all squished and funny looking. I smiled, making an even funnier face for Shizuru. She laughed so much she couldn't keep her hands on my cheeks anymore. I laughed too. A suddenly had an urge to kiss Shizuru. Her laugh was adorable, her position on top of me triggered every sense in my body. I wanted her. I put the arm that was on her back up to her head and slowly tangled my fingers into her hair. Her laughing settled, she concentrated on how I was moving and my body language. Shizuru got the hint. I locked eyes with Shizuru. I slowly pushed Shizuru's head towards mine, our lips almost touching. The moment before our lips touched, Shizuru's breath hitched. I pushed Shizuru's lips onto mine quickly. She moaned slightly at the sudden attack. I moved my lips until they got to the same pace as hers. The temperature of the apartment felt like it went up at least 15 degrees. My body felt as if all energy had been drained from it. Shizuru put her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. She was no longer just sitting on my lap, she moved up to my waist, I felt the place in between her legs on my abdomen get hotter and hotter by the second. I pulled her in closer, closing the gap between us, our bodies touching to the fullest. I felt her heartbeat rapidly beating on my chest. I couldn't take any more. I slightly parted our kiss to lick Shizuru's bottom lip, trying to ask for entry. Shizuru smiled and attacked my mouth, invading it with her tongue. I moaned at the passionate gesture. I moved my tongue on to hers, tasting her. 'tastes like green tea.. I think it's permanent, guess I gotta get used to drinking green tea then.' I used this opportunity to explore the depths of her mouth. Every inch. I decided to try to make Shizuru shiver as I did before. I left Shizuru's hair and made my way down her back, I put my arm underneath her shirt and slowly trailed up and down her spine. Shizuru had to break from the kiss to take in the sensations I was giving her on her back. Shizuru's arms left my neck, she tightly gripped the sleeves on my shirt. I kissed Shizuru again, invading her mouth with my tongue again, while still trailing my hand up and down her back. I noticed Shizuru was breathing really fast. Every action I did with my tongue made Shizuru wiggle or move. She started to moan at every sensation I gave her. I moved the hand that was inside her shirt down to her waist, gently going up and down her womanly curve. Her moaning became louder and more frequent, I hadn't noticed I was moaning too. It was really embarrassing, I never knew I did such things. ' How did I not notice I was doing it too?' My thought was interrupted when Shizuru suddenly ended our kiss and tightly gripped on to my shirt, resting her head in the nick of my neck.

"I.. can't… If Natsuki does any more.. I'll… " Shizuru tried to form a sentence through her heavy breathing. 'You'll what?' I was a bit confused. I didn't really know what she was talking about. If I kept going, would she not be able to stop?

"You'll what?" I asked the question since I didn't really know much about this. Shizuru slowly lifted her head off of my shoulder and looked into my eyes, she opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but no words came out. Instead, a massive blush formed on her cheeks. Shizuru kept looking different directions, looking like she was gathering up courage to say something. Her gaze finally met mine.

"I'll.. reach my limit." A switch flicked on inside my head. 'Wait.. Only from kissing?.. That's so…' I learnt about that kind of stuff in school, never really payed attention though. Nobody really payed attention, but I'll have plenty of time to explore that kind of stuff on my own. I knew what she meant though, the thought of it made me blush. Shizuru wasn't finished her sentence, so she talked on.

"I know what my Natsuki is thinking, but I'll have you know, that kiss was quite intense, and I have a very sensitive place on my hip that you were very close to touching. Hmph." Shizuru pouted. I personally didn't know anybody could reach their limit just by kissing. It was a really interesting fact to know about Shizuru, it was one more thing I got to learn about her body, and I was planning on learning everything, just very slowly.

"I'm sorry, Shizuru. I'll try not to make you.. you know, until.. you know. Gah! I'm so bad with this. I can't talk about this kind of stuff openly yet…" I was mad at myself for not being able to speak openly about it to Shizuru. I didn't want her to think that I was against it or anything. Shizuru slow-mo punched my cheek. I let out a little pout.

"It's alright, you can take as much time as you need, just don't make we wait too long." Shizuru's fist turned into a loving touch onto my cheek. I smiled. ' I'm sorry, Shizuru.. I don't want you to hold yourself back from me. But please, understand. I need time, both to heal and think this whole thing through.. promise you'll wait for me.' I took Shizuru's hand off of my cheek and held it. I gently kissed the top of her hand in a prince like fashion. I held on to her hand tightly.

"I'll try."