Woo! Lookit that! Another chapter update! Much thanks again to Winnow for the editing/cleanup/format help. More thanks to my idea muse, too. You guys are the best!
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Ayano woke up thrashing. Strong hands grasped her forearms, holding her down tightly. Her eyes snapped open to find Kazuma staring down at her, his eyes wide with an expression she had never witnessed before. She stilled in his grip, her breath hitched as it fought to catch up with her hyperventilation.
"Ayano, are you awake now?" Kazuma asked. When she nodded the foreign expression gradually left his features and was replaced with one of relief. He sank down on to what she now recognized as a bed and at the same time released her arms. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he willed his heart to stop hammering in his chest.
"What happened?" He asked quietly as he turned his eyes back on hers.
Ayano was quiet as she slid her elbows to each side of her body and levered her torso up into a sitting position. She hung her head low and let her hair and long bangs slide forward to obscure her face.
"Ayano?" Kazuma persisted, the slightest hint of raw, fearful concern colored his voice. He leaned forward slightly; one hand shifted and readied itself to push away her hair to get a better view of her face. A movement in her shoulders caught his eye; they were shaking.
Suddenly, she lunged forward, a ragged sob tore past her lips as her arms wrapped tightly about his neck. She buried her face in his chest and shuddered as the memory of the terrible pain swept through her. He went rigid from the sudden contact. He had seen Ayano upset before. He'd seen her cry before. But the desperation with which she clung to him was downright scary.
The sensation of wetness on the front of his shirt galvanized him into action. Slowly he raised his arms and settled them around her shoulders. While he waited for her to ride out her tears and speak, he reached out with his mind to question the wind spirits who had alerted him to Ayano's distressed state in the first place. They, in turn, replied that she had been in contact with a high-level spirit. He asked if it had been the Fire Spirit Lord. They said the Lord had indeed tried to, but a different spirit had been the one primarily communicating with her. Kazuma filed the information away for later contemplation and returned his focus back to Ayano; who had calmed down considerably.
She heaved a deep sigh and pushed away from him to scrub at her eyes and cheeks with her fingers. "Sorry," She muttered without looking at him.
"It's all right. I'll just charge you for the shirt later." He joked, hoping to get a rise out of her to ease the heaviness in the air.
She frowned but would not take the bait. Instead, she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. They were in an incredibly large bedroom decorated in minimalist, modern touches of dark woods and off-white fabrics. There were floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere on every wall except the one that the bed was situated against with the bed pointed towards the other three windowed walls. The bedroom itself was nothing in comparison to the incredible view it revealed of a long stretch of beach. Ayano could only imagine how beautiful the scenery must have looked in the midst of summer. For now though, the deciduous trees that spread out on either side of the house were barren of leaves; even then though, the view was quite impressive.
When she found her voice she had to ask, "This is your safe house?"
"What? Did you think I'd shuffle you off to some underground bunker?" He ignored the look she shot him that seemed to say 'that wouldn't surprise me.'
"I suppose then that my father is paying for this house as well?" She grumbled.
It was Kazuma's turn to roll his eyes. "Hardly; this is my place. It wouldn't be wise to hide out in any house that was Kannagi-owned. Someone could easily find every safe house documented somewhere in the family records."
"It sure is a nice safe house…" Her look became immediately suspicious, "What'd you do, steal this from somebody?"
"Nope, just slept with the real estate agent," He gave her a cocky grin.
This time Ayano did rise to the bait. She growled and made to punch him in the shoulder; a move that was easily caught by the spry contractor. Her cheeks flooded with heat as he raised the offending fist to his lips and kissed her knuckles. When his eyes met hers, aglow with amusement her brain nearly short-circuited. She scrambled for something to say that would distract her from the feeling of her heart as it pounded away in her chest.
"I—ah—uh, where's Kirika?"
Kazuma dropped her hand and shrugged. "She left. She needs to get back to the city before anyone gets suspicious. Officially, we're on an undercover assignment in an unspecified location to identify and eliminate a youma nest."
"I see…" Now that she could breathe again she finally found the sense to ask a more pressing question. "So what happens next?"
The contractor stretched and stood up from the bed. "Well, I'm going out to score us some food and get you a change of clothes. As much as I like seeing you prance about in my shirt I think I should probably get you something to go shopping in before you destroy it."
Ayano huffed, "Well don't spend too much money if it's all going to be charged to my father—but don't think I'm about to go shopping in a burlap sack either, you got me?"
Kazuma couldn't help the appreciative grin that stole across his features, "Wow, you've gotten pretty sharp there. Fine, princess, I'll see what I can do."
"Do you even know my size?"
Oh, it was just too easy. "Of course, I've handled you enough times to know your measurements perfectly." With a flourish, he turned and headed out the bedroom door and called out behind, even while she sputtered protests in his wake, "Feel free to make yourself at home, by the way. Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."
"I'm not an idiot, geez!" She hollered back.
His reply was a non-committal "uh-huh" before he waltzed out the front door.
0
An hour and a half later Kazuma returned to his beach front villa holding a shopping bag in one hand and a take-out bag in the other. Ayano ignored his entry. She sat curled up on a couch in the living room watching TV. A beige throw covered her bare legs and kept them warm. The contractor set the Styrofoam containers of food on the nearby kitchen table before wandering over to the living room and depositing the shopping bag next to the girl on the couch. Ayano, in turn, grabbed up the bag and scurried into the master bedroom she'd first awoken in.
She set the bag on the bed and fished through the tissue-wrapped objects, pulling out first an off-white pea coat. She begrudgingly gave Kazuma some credit as she slipped the coat over her shoulders to try it on. Ayano stepped in front of a floor-length mirror attached to the inside of a nearby closet door and smiled at her reflection. It was a very cute coat, she had to admit, and it fit her perfectly. She quickly hung the coat up in the closet and returned to the bag. This time she discovered a matching off-white fuzzy sweater that clung to her in all the right places.
"All right, Kazuma, you're two for two on clothing," Ayano thought to herself as she wandered back to the bag, dug around, and emerged with a flush with something thin and lacy. She quickly identified it as a bra and grumbled about her embarrassment for several minutes until she was forced to admit to herself that she had little choice in the matter at that point, what with her bra having been destroyed when Enraiha was taken. At least, that was what Kazuma said had happened. She eyed the garment contemptuously as if it were the bra's fault she was forced to wear such a skimpy thing. It failed to say anything snarky, so she decided to suck it up and wear it for the moment.
"He'd probably like it a little too much if I went around bra-less anyway. That was probably his plan all along. Well, we'll see about that."
A slightly more wary Ayano fished around in the bag and was again dismayed to find that he had bought a very tiny black skirt to go with her ensemble and matching thigh-high opaque stockings (which she liked but would never admit) in the same color as the skirt. As she pulled on the stockings she considered hiding out in her room for the rest of the day but the grumbling of her empty stomach quickly got the better of her.
Kazuma was halfway through his curry when he spotted Ayano shuffling down the hallway towards him. His eyes swept up and down her figure several times and briefly he thought he'd been a little too good at finding an outfit for her. He might not be able to concentrate well if she flounced around in that skirt; although he admitted her school uniform's skirt had not been much longer. A grin tugged at his lips which he quickly hid behind his chopsticks as she plopped down in the seat across from him. She sifted through the containers of food until she found what she wanted and set to work plowing through it.
The contractor finished up not long after and leaned back in his chair. He kept his eyes trained on her and watched with growing amusement as her cheeks reddened. She was most definitely aware that he was staring, but she made quite a show of ignoring it. That, of course, simply made things more entertaining for him. At the very least, he could enjoy her attitude a little while longer.
Not long later Ayano finished eating and instinctively began cleaning up the table. Kazuma waited until she had most of the uneaten food packed up and in the refrigerator before commenting.
"So you're finally learning the way things work, eh?"
Ayano raised an eyebrow, "How so?"
"Oh you know," he gestured towards the food she had packed away, "cleaning up after the men-folk and all that."
Kazuma deftly caught a package of noodles that came soaring towards his head. Ayano seethed and stomped away back into the living room. When she was out of earshot, he let loose a small chuckle, shook his head, and then followed her. He took up a position against one of the far walls and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Now that you're in a better mood," he began, "let's talk about your dream."
Ayano sat up a little in her seat; then made a fuss of tucking her legs underneath her for a moment while she collected her senses. After a few minutes, she felt a little more composed and began to explain.
"I was standing in a dark place, and then there were flames everywhere. I called to them, and they answered like I would if I were summoning them. Then I heard a woman's voice calling my name from far away. The flames got warmer an-and the voice got closer." She hesitated long enough to pull her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, as if they alone could ease her discomfort at the memory, "I could feel her getting closer. The closer she got the hotter the flames burned. I-it hurt so bad, Kazuma. I didn't know what to do." Ayano frowned and rested her chin on top of her knees, curling tighter into herself, "Then I felt something in my chest. It was cold, and when I looked, gods, there was blood everywhere…this big hole, but it didn't hurt, nothing hurt like the fire did. I-I was so scared, and then…" She decided not to mention that she had called for him, she figured he would tease her and call her weak, "I heard your voice, and I woke up."
The sight of Ayano looking so forlorn, so small, tugged at his heart. The old, helpless feeling he had experienced with Cui Ling jumped to the fore in his mind. He couldn't fight a dream. What was he supposed to do? Mahogany eyes followed her every move as she slowly uncurled and looked up at him. She had questions, he knew that, but he had no answers to give at the moment. He needed more time to think.
"Let's get out of here."
"Huh?" Ayano tilted her head to the side; confusion rapidly replaced the fear that had pulled at her soul.
"You heard what I said. There's a downtown area not too far from here. We need to get you some more clothes." When Ayano looked less than willing to go anywhere, he shrugged casually and added, "Or you could stay here and sleep in my shirt again. I wouldn't mind watching you walk around in that all night."
That got her moving. She was up in a flash and heading for the door, a string of angry curses floated behind in her wake. She quickly discovered a new pair of black boots waiting for her, and she complained to them as she put them on about how much of a jerk Kazuma was. Just as she was about to reach for the door handle and presumably leave the contractor behind, something dropped onto her shoulders. She blinked as she raised her hands to touch the object, quickly discovering it to be her new coat. The coat suddenly vacated her shoulders as Kazuma helped her into it. She felt his hands on her shoulders and nearly jumped when she felt his breath at her ear.
"You can't run out into the cold dressed like that anymore, princess. You'll need this."
His hands quickly retreated as her cheeks grew hot. She managed to stutter. "I-I knew that. I was gonna go get it!"
The contractor gave a snort before gliding around her to show her out the door. "Uh huh, just hurry up."
The moment she stepped out into the air, she flinched. It was already dark outside, and the wind was bitingly cold. She heard the click of the lock behind her, and then Kazuma breezed by her. The wind stopped abruptly as he did so, and she didn't miss the cocky smirk on his lips that let her know that he had caused it to stop.
She huffed and grumbled, "Show off," before following him down the winding driveway to a nearby street with sidewalks. They turned left and headed down the street towards an area in the distance that looked well lit. It wasn't an incredibly long walk to downtown, but it was just far enough that Ayano was chilled to the bone by the time they got there. Kazuma quickly pointed out the store where he had purchased her clothes, and Ayano headed there first. Normally, she would have ignored his judgment and looked for another store, but she was too desperate to get out of the cold. As she glanced back at his bundled up form, she wondered how he managed to tolerate the cold without the blessing of the Fire Spirit Lord; she was barely handling it as it was.
Fortunately, Kazuma seemed just as relieved as she was when they entered the store and started to warm up. A woman cheerfully greeted them and asked if they needed any help. Ayano politely waved her away and set to work combing through the racks of clothes. It felt strange having to pick through the heavier winter clothes she would have normally avoided like long sleeved shirts, sweaters, sweat shirts, and pants. Every time she looked up towards Kazuma, she caught him in various states of absolute boredom. She was half tempted to try on all the clothes she had just to make him wait longer, but when she saw that the changing room stalls were only covered by flimsy curtains she decided against it. It would be too simple a thing for the contractor to send a stray puff of wind her way while she was changing and then, well, she wouldn't think about how embarrassed she would be; nor think about all the lewd comments that would invariably spew from Kazuma's mouth for the rest of the night. When she was finally finished, she waved the wind user over and allowed him to pay for her things. As usual, he ignored her insistent stare that implied that he should help her with her bags. In the end, she was forced to carry them all.
They immediately headed back towards the beach house. Ayano struggled to keep a hold on all the bags and fussed with the handles constantly. Just when she had found a comfortable carrying position fate chose that moment to allow her foot to meet a small patch of ice on the sidewalk. With a gasp, she slipped backwards; her arms shot out to either side as she flailed impotently. She bounced onto her rear on the cold pavement with a yelp.
Groaning, the ex-fire user rubbed her back as she looked about to assess the damage to the bags of clothes she had flung in her panic. Instead of dirty clothes, she saw Kazuma standing in front of her with the bags hovering nearby.
"You really have to work on your landings," He commented dryly before walking off, the bags floated behind as if towed by invisible leashes.
Ayano spent the rest of the walk cursing the gods for ever allowing them to meet.
0
Back inside the beach house, Kazuma released the wind spell and allowed the bags to drop to the floor. They landed upright, but that didn't stop Ayano from screeching indignantly about it. She glared daggers at him as she yanked off her boots, grabbed up her bags, and then stormed down the hall to her room.
Meanwhile, the contractor relaxed comfortably on the sofa in the living room, allowing her plenty of time to hang up her new clothes and change into her pajamas. Irritable and sore from her fall, the ex-fire magic user flipped off the light in the room and crawled into bed, still fuming over Kazuma. Frustrated, Ayano closed her eyes and counted to ten.
The lights flipped back on.
Her eyes snapped open then squinted as they tried to adjust to the invasive light. "What the hell, Kazuma?" She growled.
The contractor raised an eyebrow at the flustered girl. "I should be asking you that question. What are you doing sleeping in my bed?"
She scrabbled up into a sitting position, her voice rising in pitch with her anger. "Your bed? But you put me in here when I—No! This is my bed. You gave it to me when you put me in it."
"I didn't give you anything. I simply put you in that bed so I could keep an eye on you while you were thrashing around in your sleep. You would have fallen out of the smaller bed in your room."
Ayano didn't want to think about her dream again, so she growled and flopped back over onto her side and tugged the blanket up around her shoulders. "Well forget it. I'm not going anywhere. All my clothes are in here and everything. I'm not hauling it back out." She squeezed her eyes shut and feigned sleep.
"Okay then, princess. You can sleep there."
She was surprised to hear him give in so easily, a smug, self-satisfied smile spread across her lips. "Good. Now shut off the light and let me sleep."
"Sure thing," He replied.
Behind her eyelids she could see when the light flipped back off. She sighed happily and snuggled back into her pillow. It seemed Kazuma had learned some common sense and decency after all.
The sound of footsteps caught her attention. She could hear some drawers being opened nearby.
"He must be getting his things," She thought to herself and relaxed again. The footsteps receded and everything became quiet again. Ayano took a deep breath and waited for sleep to claim her.
Suddenly, she felt the mattress shift and blankets rustled behind her. Once again, her eyes popped open when she realized Kazuma was climbing into bed next to her. Heat flared across her cheeks and neck when she spoke.
"Kazuma! What are you doing?"
His deep voice emanated behind her as he settled down. "I'm going to sleep in my bed."
"I told you already that I'm sleeping here. Go sleep somewhere else!" She hissed back.
"This is my bed, I paid for it, and I'm damn well going to sleep in it. If you don't like it, you can go sleep in your own room." The contractor replied in a calm voice.
The slight challenge to his voice was impossible for her to miss. She growled and tugged the blankets tighter around her shoulders. "This stupid trick of yours isn't going to get me to move, Kazuma. I'm not leaving!"
Suddenly, a pair of arms slithered around her and swept her towards the middle of the bed. His lips were at her ear, causing her to suppress a shiver when he spoke, even as she tried to protest.
"That sounds nice. I think I'll keep you here."
Ayano wriggled in his grip, but he held her firm, her heart hammered in her chest as she became keenly aware of the hard warmth of his torso against her back. She swore he could tell how much he riled her up and her body betrayed the stray thoughts of hope. No, but it couldn't be that. He simply loved to tease her; that was all. Perhaps that had been his game all along; to get her in his bed. The thought made her heart sink and words sprang unbidden to her lips.
"Please, let me go." She rasped.
His arms immediately released her, and she scrambled out of the bed and down the hall to a nearby bedroom—her room most likely. It didn't matter. She just wanted to lie down and forget that he toyed with her heart so.
0
Kazuma knew his joke had gone too far when he heard her speak. Wordlessly, he had freed her of him and watched as she stumbled away towards the guest bedroom. Part of him had hoped she would stay. Her soft curves fit so nicely against him and he could still pick up the sweet scent of her hair on the empty pillow next to him. Still, it was better if she moved on, he figured. He didn't deserve her affection if he could not protect her from Bernhardt. But, his mind argued, if he did manage to save her then couldn't he consider the possibility of a life with her? Bernhardt would have to die, of course, but after that maybe, just maybe, he could settle down.
Distressed wind spirits pulled Kazuma from unconsciousness only a few hours later. He lurched up in bed with a start, knowing they would only summon him for the one reason he had asked of them, Ayano. He stumbled from bed and hurried down the hall to the guest bedroom. His legs protested such sudden movement after having been at rest for a handful of hours, and he cursed at them for their sluggishness. Just outside the guest bedroom door he heard the dull thud of a body hitting the floor. Her name left his lips, and he burst through the door.
Ayano was on the floor; her eyes wide open with shock. Her nightmare had repeated itself again, and she had tossed and turned her way right off the double bed in her riled state. The jarring sensation had immediately woken her only to get the fright of her life when Kazuma burst in a heartbeat later shouting her name. He dropped to his knees next to her and gathered her in his arms.
"Ayano, talk to me! Are you okay?"
The ex-fire user was speechless. She had never seen such a panicked expression on his face before. He was always in control of the situation. It was unnerving to see him so concerned. When she didn't respond right away he shook her roughly. It was enough for her to recall the workings of her vocal chords.
"Ka-Kazuma, stop shaking me." She mumbled stupidly.
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, without thinking he pulled her to his chest and squeezed her tightly. "Gods, Ayano, don't scare me like that!"
Ayano had only seen him cling to her like that once before and it startled her, "Who-ah-who are you? And where have you put, Kazuma?" She muttered breathlessly as he nearly squeezed the air from her lungs.
The contractor relaxed his grip on her shoulders slightly but did not let go. "Idiot. What happened? Was it another dream?"
Ayano shivered and nodded as the memory of her dream assailed her. "Yes. It was almost the same as it was last time. The fire called and then started to burn me. This time, I tried to listen to the woman. It was hard to hear her over roaring flames, but I did hear her say that she was coming."
He let go of her enough to watch her face. "Coming for what?"
Ayano shrugged and shivered again. "I don't know, but," her voice caught in her throat and she tried to swallow to clear the nagging thickness in it, "but I don't want to go back to sleep again."
Kazuma sighed and shifted until his hand was tucked under her feet. With practiced ease he drew up until he was standing and carried her back towards his room. Surprisingly, she made no protest even when he set her down on the bed and climbed in next to her.
"Just stay next to me. I'll keep watch over your dreams." He murmured gently.
Wordlessly, she nodded and made to turn over away from him but was forced to stop when his arms snaked around her and drew her to his chest. Her eyes were locked on to his collarbone for several minutes until she felt his chin settle atop her head. Here again was the more foreign part of Kazuma to her. This was the part of him that seemed to care so much for everyone. She was never quite sure if that particular trait was the real Kazuma or merely an act put on by his cold and calculating mind to maintain control in emotional situations. As his arms tightened slightly around her shoulders, she saw a more pronounced rise and fall to his chest; as if he was breathing in the scent of her hair. A new thought wormed its way into her mind at the sight. Perhaps, the coldness was an act to hide the fact that he cared too much? She smiled a little to herself as her eyes grew heavy. Could it really be so simple? If it was true then it was entirely possible that all of his boastings of his claim on her really was true. Then maybe, just maybe, there was hope for their relationship after all.