A/N: Oh no! Am I mean or what? Sorry about that ending... All comments welcomed with open arms!

Disclaimer: Too bad, I don't own these adorable characters of Silver Diamond.

Chapter 4

Divided

A big pile of rocks had fallen in the middle of the room, forming a barricade. Luckily I had been near the wall in one end of the oval cave so I was safe even if Chigusa, who had been near me, hadn't covered me with his body.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The ceiling fell down," he said simply, then withdrew from me. Again, I wondered about that briefly, but there were more urgent matters to attend to.

"What about Narushige and Touji?" I asked but was answered even before I had finished.

"Rakan?" a shout came from the other side of the rocks. The voice was a bit muffled but otherwise completely understandable.

"Narushige? Are you okay?" I shouted back.

"Yes, I'm fine. So is Touji. And you?"

"Still alive, and not even hurt. Chigusa too," I said while trying to look if there was a way through to the other side of the rocks or if there were smaller rocks we would be able to move. I couldn't find either. The new rock barricade had completely blocked our way.

"Yes, I would imagine so," came from the other side. Narushige's voice sounded kind of dry and chilly. "And why did he not inform us of the trap?"

"Ah, you didn't ask," Chigusa said, answering the question in his simplistic manner.

"Chigusa," I said, "what do we do now?"

He took off his goggles and looked around for a while.

"You two are quite near the exit," he said to the ones on the other side. "There are three corridors leading from your side, right? Take the middle one, then in the next room take the left corridor, that's the one going upwards, then right, and that should lead you out. Even if you get lost I can see where you are and we'll come find you later. Oh, I can see Kuro's already waiting there."

"And what about us?"

"Well, we'll have to take a longer route. Don't worry, there are several ways out of here. It'll take us a bit longer and we might even have to sleep in the caves tonight since it's already quite late, but eventually we'll get out."

I could almost feel the ice spreading from the other side as Chigusa said this.

"Chigusa," Narushige said, "in this situation I have no choice but to comply, but if I find you've done anything that might be considered even remotely suspicious you will never see another day. Do you understand?"

"Right you are," Chigusa said cheerfully, almost mockingly, and even though Narushige must have known he was only teasing him, I could hear a snap as Kou turned into a sword on the other side.

We said our goodbyes for what would hopefully only be a little while and went our way. Chigusa picked one of the two ways out of our part of the room. The other was the one we had come from.

He was walking ahead, not saying anything, and I followed behind, just as silent. We carried on like this for what seemed like hours until we came to another round cave, one with a fairytale forest of majestic trees.

Chigusa stopped and turned to look at me, and I pretended to be suddenly very interested on the painted walls, examining them closely. I tried to concentrate on the two-dimensional tree trunks in front of me, but my mind kept guiding my thoughts elsewhere. The skin on my back prickled as I felt his stare. I almost expected him to hug me from behind, but that never happened. I turned to meet his eyes and found they wore a troubled expression.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked, his voice trembling barely noticeably.

"Why would I be?"

"For bringing you to this desolate world. For forcing you to live like this. For so many things I've made you give up, like everything wonderful we've seen in these caves. There might be a way back, one those explorers knew about. I'll find it for you, if you want to return." He looked like a lost wet puppy, so desperate was his expression.

"How many times must I say that this was my decision?" I asked, a bit angry. "You didn't force me to do anything. And, although I might miss some things, I've never really regretted my decision. The other world, the one I grew up in, is now just a memory to me. Thinking about it, I feel a little sad, but that's just nostalgia. I have learned to like this world, too. I like the fact that Touji and Narushige and Kuro and Kou are all here with me, but most of all I love you being here. I'll always treasure my childhood memories, but the memories I've made with you are even more important to me."

Chigusa almost collapsed. His forehead sank on my shoulder and he sighed with obvious relief. For a while, he just stood there.

"Then why were you avoiding me?" he breathed against my shoulder. I could feel him tensing, bracing himself to hear the worst, and it was then that I finally realized how much I had hurt him with my actions.

"Well, it's a bit embarrassing," I said, blushing. I knew I had to tell him, otherwise he would worry, but it wasn't easy. He waited for me to continue.

"Um, it's because of what we talked about this morning. You know, if you can see through clothes."

"What about it?"

"Well, after that, every time you look at me I keep thinking that you're undressing me with your eyes."

"Yes?" He still didn't get the point.

"It's embarrassing, okay? It makes me blush and my skin tingle in all the places it usually wouldn't or shouldn't and my hair rise and..." I knew that by now I was red like a tomato, and I couldn't finish what I was about to say.

"I don't quite get it but maybe you'd be more comfortable if you, too, could see me naked," Chigusa said.

So shocked was I with this complete lack of common sense that I didn't manage to stop him until his upper torso was already totally unclothed. I grabbed his hands just when they were about to proceed to the bottom part and realized too late that this move had brought my face quite near his chest.

For a while we were like frozen in time. One part of me kept admiring his chest quite freely, the rhythm of his breathing (how fascinating it was how his muscles moved with every breath) and the nipples that I could see between the dark bandages he still wore, while another part of me was panicking. I could feel all kinds of arousal that I didn't quite understand, and that made me feel uneasy.

"Ah, I think I understand," he said. "Although I kind of like this feeling, having you stare at my naked skin so intently."

I blushed even more furiously, if that was possible, and quickly backed away until my back met with the wall.

He closed on me with a predator's grin pasted on his face. That expression made me at the same time a bit scared and quite a bit weak at the knees.

He was so close but we weren't touching. I could feel his breathing on my skin, and his eyes behind the lenses were observing me intently, and his hair as black as night almost brushed my chin softly. I was tense and burning all over, part of me wanting to touch him and another part wanting to escape. I couldn't decide which to do and we stood like that, almost touching, for quite a while. Before I could make my mind up, he spoke.

"I was so scared that you'd have regrets about following me, that you'd want to go back to the other world after seeing all this," he murmured.

I smiled gently. I knew there was next to nothing I could say to completely assure him, so I tried to think of something else. And there it was, crystal clear in my mind. I did it before I could stop myself.

With my hands I brought his head a bit lower so I could reach his lips with mine.