Disclaimer: I don't own Yoroiden Samurai Troopers or any characters from it. I do own Katya, Vasha, and Philippe. The poem in this chapter is "I Know I am But Summer To Your Heart" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I make no money from this story.
Author's note: The second version of the apartment scene in chapter ten. In this version, the poet is Edna St. Vincent Millay. I discarded this version because the poem was too obvious in what it was talking about, and I wanted something a little less so. This version is definitely a blend of the initial version and the final product, for the most part; the only things that are unique are the poem and what happens after Katya reads it, for the most part.
Katya is upset like in the final version, but the way they end up sharing a bed is still not the same. I discarded this version of the bed snippet because there's no way Touma would sleep in Katya's bed without being told yet. The part at the end with Touma's realization has been cut from this version, but the part where he wonders about Katya being upset isn't there, and it just kind of… ends. I hated that.
Alternate take: Apartment Scene, chapter 10 (Late Night Conversations), Second version
(starts after Touma says "Do I need a reason?" in the elevator)
By womanofwords
When they reached the apartment, Touma went to the kitchen with the containers of food while Katya excused herself to go change.
"Make yourself comfortable!" she called from her room.
Touma put the food containers in the fridge and headed into the living room. Taking a bite of his egg sandwich, he noticed a thick hardcover book on the end table beside one of the couches. As he sat down, he reached over and took it. Putting his food aside, he flipped through the book.
It was in writing he didn't understand. He guessed it was probably Russian, and judging from the structure of the words on the page, it was probably poetry. He was about to put the book back when he heard Katya enter the living room.
"Now, now, Touma. I've told you to put the books back when you're done." She teased him, flipping through the book as she did so. She had changed into a tank top and shorts, and her hair was up in a loose bun. Her face seemed different somehow, and it took Touma a moment to realize she had been wearing makeup during their date and had washed it off when she went to change.
"I wasn't done. Well, I mean, I can't read that book, obviously, so I was hoping…" he trailed off.
"Yes?" Katya said, sitting next to him and putting the book in her lap as though she already knew what he was asking.
Of course she knows, you're so transparent it's ridiculous. Grow a backbone, it's not that hard to ask someone to read to you.
"Read me a poem? Please?" he asked Katya, who beamed and immediately turned to a page.
" I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year; and you must welcome from another part such noble moods as are not mine, my dear. No gracious weight of golden fruits to sell have I, nor any wise and wintry thing; and I have loved you all too long and well to carry still the high sweet breast of Spring." Katya glanced over at him, gave a small smile, and continued on. "Wherefore I say: O love, as summer goes, I must be gone, steal forth with silent drums, that you may hail anew the bird and rose when I come back to you, as summer comes. Else will you seek, at some not distant time, even your summer in another clime."
Touma didn't quite understand the poem Katya had just read to him, but he sat just a little closer to her, as if by decreasing the space between them he could understand the words she had just read to him.
"It's by Edna St. Vincent Millay," Katya told him. "An American poet. Vasha picked up a Russian translation somewhere for me. There's just… something about her poems. Like you with Pablo Neruda."
Touma nodded. At that moment he wanted to respond by reciting a line from Neruda's poems, but he wasn't fast enough to think of one that fit the situation and the moment passed. Katya shook her head as though to clear it and set the book aside.
"I'm going to bed," she whispered, and for a moment Touma wondered if she was crying, but she hurried out of the living room and down the hall too fast for him to ask any questions.
Touma waited about a half an hour, but Katya never emerged from her room. Quietly, he rose from the couch and went down the hall. Though the door to her room was closed, there was no indication Katya's lights were on. Hesitating briefly, he opened the door.
It was dark, but he could make out Katya lying on her side in her bed. Her breath was slow and soft, and Touma knew she must have been asleep. He turned to leave, but found himself unable to move. To his surprise, he found himself wanted to stay.
She'll kill me if she sees me sleeping in her bed. But I want her to know she's not alone, since she was kind of upset before she fell asleep… Fine, I'll take the risk.
Touma stepped into Katya's room and closed the door. He decided it was probably acceptable to remain clothed, and slid into Katya's bed beside her.
He couldn't sleep right away, but he listened to Katya breathe, and told himself maybe Katya wouldn't care when she woke up. If anything, she might be happy he had wanted to look after her. Even if she got mad, Touma knew, she wouldn't stay that way for very long. As Touma felt himself falling asleep, he found himself thinking she'd probably laugh it off and make it part of their deal somehow, and he chuckled before finally letting sleep claim him.