Disclaimer: I don't own Yoroiden Samurai Troopers or any characters from it. I do own Katya, Vasha, and Philippe. The poem Katya reads in this chapter is "Rain towards Morning," by Elizabeth Bishop. I make no money from this story.

Late Night Conversations

Part Ten: Closer

By womanofwords

"Let's just say hello," Touma whispered to Katya. "I kind of… well, you know…"

"Want to keep that 'date' feeling going?" Katya asked. Touma nodded. "Alright, then. "

The two of them walked over, but Touma noted the space between them now. He had had his arm around Katya when they came in, but now they stood a few inches apart, not even holding hands.

Was she nervous about what people thought? Touma discounted that notion quickly; Katya was physically affectionate when she wanted to be, without much concern as to who was watching. She had obviously noticed Ryo was the one to call us over; maybe she was trying to be polite, since she and Ryo had been on a date not too long ago? Well, three months was a bit of a long time, so that couldn't be it; besides, Ryo said there wasn't much chemistry between them. She's probably just nervous about meeting my friends, that's all. She doesn't want to seem clingy, Touma decided.

Touma and Katya paused at the booth. Katya waved and said nothing, while Touma quietly muttered a 'hello' to the others.

"Are we interrupting something?" Shuu asked, and Touma noticed that dumb grin again, and once again had the urge to punch Shuu's teeth out. He didn't understand why every time Shuu did that, he had that urge.

"Probably," Seiji said. "Sorry we-"

"Don't apologize, Seiji." Touma found himself interrupting. "We don't mind."

Katya nodded. "Not at all. I assume you guys are Touma's friends?"

Touma went through the introductions quickly. He noticed that Katya and Ryo didn't react to seeing each other, and neither mentioned having met before. He wondered why briefly, but then Shin spoke up.

"Do you two want to join us? We have room, and no one's ordered yet." He asked.

Touma shook his head and slid an arm around Katya again. He noticed the faint surprise on everyone else's faces, but Katya had a sort of faint smile on hers.

"Thanks, but we just stopped in to grab something to go." He explained, wondering where the lie had come from and why he said it. He supposed a little of it was wanting to keep the date feeling going, like he had told Katya, but that wasn't all of it. He also wanted to spend time alone with Katya, since tonight was the first time he had done so in ages. He had missed her.

But that wasn't all of it, either. Something else was nagging at Touma, but he couldn't figure it out. Some other reason he wanted Katya to himself tonight. Pushing the unknown feeling aside, he said goodbye to his friends and went to the front of the diner with Katya.

He wasn't sure how they had known (he chalked it off to someone eavesdropping), but the usual orders were waiting for them in to-go containers. Touma brushed off Katya's offer to pay and paid for their meal, taking the containers from the hostess and leaving the diner.

"So… Where to now?" Touma asked. Katya shrugged, but he noticed her body turn to walk in the direction of her apartment.

"Want to go back to my place?" she asked. "We'll have the place to ourselves, but we can eat and watch TV or whatever."

Both of them blushed at the implication of having the apartment to themselves.

"That's not what I meant," Katya muttered.

"I know," Touma tried to say, but he found himself laughing instead. Part of him enjoyed seeing Katya embarrassed, but he knew it was less about the embarrassment itself and more about the way it made Katya seem more human to him. The front had slipped away again, and he found himself enjoying it.

Katya stuck her tongue out at him, and they resumed walking to the apartment. After they arrived and were in the elevator waiting to reach the sixth floor, Touma found himself staring at Katya. When she seemed to realize this and turned to face him, he gave her a quick kiss.

"What was that for?" Katya murmured as they pulled away from each other.

"Do I need a reason?" Touma asked. Katya shook her head and smiled at him.

When they got to the apartment, Katya took the food containers from Touma and put them on the counter. Taking off her jacket, she motioned to the living room.

"Go make yourself comfortable. I'm going to change." She told him, disappearing down the hall.

Touma grabbed his container of food and headed to 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.

"Enjoying the book?" she teased him. 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 would if I could read it," he replied, handing her the book. Katya flipped through it, setting on a page, and began to read.

"The great light cage has broken up in the air, freeing, I think, about a million birds whose wild ascending shadows will not be back," Katya sat down next to Touma, taking his hand in one of hers while keeping the book in her other hand, and kept reading. "And all the wires come falling down. No cage, no frightening birds; the rain is brightening now. The face is pale that tried the puzzle of their prison and solved it with an unexpected kiss, whose freckled unsuspected hands alit."

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 Elizabeth Bishop," 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. Touma noticed the change in Katya's demeanor and put his food container on the end table. Before either one of them spoke again, Touma put his arms around Katya and held her to him, suspecting it was the right thing to do.

Katya relaxed against him, laying her head on his shoulder. She made a funny little noise in her throat that Touma thought sounded like a sob, but it was too quiet to be sure. She began to shiver in his arms, and he wrapped a blanket around the both of them in an attempt to warm her, but she kept shivering.

Eventually Katya stilled in his arms, and it took Touma a moment to realize she had fallen asleep. He slid off the couch and took her in his arms carefully. He carried her to her bedroom, laying her on the bed, and turned to leave when he heard her speak.

"Stay with me tonight, Touma, please? I…I don't want to be alone." Touma hesitated for a moment, unsure of what she meant.

"I'll be in the living room tonight. I won't be far, I promise." He thought she was asking him not to leave the apartment, and he wanted to reassure her that he wasn't.

Touma could make out Katya shaking her head in the darkness, and he was confused. He had just promised not to leave her alone in the apartment, hadn't he?

"No, I mean… stay here, with me." At that moment, it clicked.

"You mean, here? In your room?" Touma asked her. He saw her nod. "But what about-"

"Vasha won't be coming back tonight, and Philippe doesn't care. No one will see, Touma." The last sentence baffled him, but he found himself nodding, anyway. He stripped down to his boxers, leaving his shirt on, and climbed into Katya's bed next to her.

Katya fell back asleep quickly, and Touma simply laid there next to her, listening to her breathe. He wondered why she had been so upset before she fell asleep. Their date had gone well, and she seemed happy when they arrived at the apartment. Something about the poem she had read had upset her. But she had chosen to read it. Maybe it was just the poet, and something about the poet's works always stirred sad emotions in her? Touma realized there was so much to Katya he didn't know.

He resolved to talk to Vasha the next day. Maybe Katya's cousin could shed some light on the mystery.

Author's note: Sorry this took so long, I've been pulling double shifts at work and I've been so exhausted.

The plot's moving along nicely, but I have a question for you guys. My profile says this story has three sequels planned (one a direct sequel, and the other two will be differing timelines that result from a choice made in the direct sequel), but I'm also thinking about another story that's just alternate takes of chapters or scenes, deleted scenes, and maybe an occasional one-shot from a character's viewpoint other than Touma's. Would you guys be interesting in reading that? Let me know!