A/N: As usual, I want to start this by saying thanks to all of you who reviewed the previous chapter ;) Thanks also to you folks who reviewed Don't Avoid Me. Glad you enjoyed both ;)

Because it's raining here today even if it's summer (that's a manifestation of climate change, I guess) and the coolness it brought after several days of sweltering heat is really refreshing, I'm motivated to post this chapter ;) Now then, let's see some improvement in the physical relationship of our fave characters, shall we? ;)

-x-

Chapter 21. Umbrella

-x-

"Usui! What do you think you're doing?" She yelled, quickening her pace to catch up with him.

He turned to her lazily, his damped hair plastered in his forehead.

"What is it, Pres?"

"Don't play dumb. Do you want to get sick again?" She snapped angrily, moving closer to him so that he was also protected from the rain. She wasn't worried to share her umbrella with him since the school was already deserted. "Don't just stand there in the rain, idiot."

"If I get sick, then Misa-chan will take care of me. It's not such a bad trade," he said with a smirk. The smirk grew when her face turned red with anger.

"Yeah because you're going to do perverted things, stupid Takumi. If you get sick due to your stupidity, I won't come to you're a-apartment," she warned, faltering at the end when her hand that was holding the umbrella was covered by his. His hand lingered on hers, their eyes locked, before he took the umbrella from her.

"You can treat me with alternative medicine," he said, as if she hadn't said anything. He chuckled when she sputtered indignantly, this time the redness in her cheeks was due to different reason, he was sure of it.

Under the same umbrella, they walked through the rain, with him prattling uselessly to cover the silence and to raise her ire.

"Umbrellas first appeared in China about 3000 years ago. In ancient China and Egypt, umbrellas were considered symbols of rank. Important people often had umbrellas, covered with leaves or feathers, held over them by servants for protection from the sun." (19)

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she answered, rolling her eyes. She sighed with relief when they finally reached the Maid Latte. She quickly escaped to the dressing room, knowing that his eyes followed her with a smirk in his face.

'Idiot Takumi.'

"Darn it. It's still raining. What is it with this weather," she complained, watching the raindrops from the backdoor of Maid Latte. It was pure luck that she had her umbrella in her bag this day.

'It's so unusual to rain at this time of the year...Whatever, I'm going home.'

She was about to step outside when she remembered something. Sighing, she looked back, her eyes searching for something, or someone. She saw him leaning casually at the wall.

"What are you waiting for, stupid alien? Let's go," she snapped, rolling her eyes when he grinned. She would have gone home without him if only for a change in their routine and to avoid his endless teasing. However, the rain prevented her from going home alone, knowing that he would walk through the rain if she didn't do something about it since he didn't have an umbrella, and he'd probably get sick tomorrow. Then she would get worried, and then he'd pester her.

'Well, he looks good when his hair is wet and plastered on…'

Her thoughts were cut off as she realized what they were all about. Her eyes widened and her face flushed.

"Hurry up, stupid alien," she snapped at him, looking away to avoid his curious eyes.

Just like earlier, they walked together under her umbrella. The difference from before, however, was that her arm was linked on his. It happened after much complaints from her and perverted threats from him.

'Stupid perverted outer-space alien.'

"I'm going now," she said for the third time as she stood at his door, not facing him. She knew what she would see if she looked back at him. He had done it twice already in the two times that she had said she was leaving. He gave her a puppy-dog look that she found she had little to no power to resist. Though she covered her two failures to leave with the reason that at first, he wanted them to eat together and she was hungry, and the second because the rain was pouring hard.

"Misa-chan…"

She made the mistake of looking at him when her name was called, and was bombarded by his hopeful and beseeching look. Her shoulders dropped in defeat while he grinned in victory.

"20 minutes and then I'm going no matter what you say," she said sternly as she walked around him and headed to the couch. He followed her obediently, the triumphant smile still plastered in his face. When she attempted to sit on the couch, he pulled her and she landed on his lap facing him. Her cheeks flushed.

"What are you doing, pervert Takumi," she complained half-heartedly. He always did it to her, and her struggles always failed so she didn't even think of trying.

"I want to cuddle with Misa-chan. It's raining outside so it feels much better," he answered, his voice muffled as he had his face burrowed in her hair.

She was tensed in his arms at first, though she eventually relaxed and followed suit, burrowing her face at the crook of his neck, blushing when she remembered the marks she left in his neck a couple of days ago. There was no more trace of them, but it still made her felt warm and embarrassed whenever she recalled the boldness of her actions. Not that she regretted any of it, especially with the reaction she had gotten from him. She wondered if she would still get the same result, so she wasn't really surprised with herself when her lips touched his neck. She smiled in his neck when he stopped inhaling the scent of her hair. She rewarded him with a playful nip on his neck. She was satisfied when he inhaled sharply, and wasn't surprised when he pulled away, lifted her chin, and kissed her lips hungrily.

"You…" kiss "don't…" kiss "have…" kiss "any idea…" kiss "what…" you're doing" kiss "to me…"

He ended his words with a heated kiss, a kiss that had her gasping for air, and had them wanting for more.

"Takumi…"

They quickly got lost in each other as he rained kisses on her face, her neck, her ear, while she also tried to match what he was doing, dropping kisses in his face, though not as many as he could because she was panting heavily. The warmth that she always felt whenever he was around had became more intense lately as their kisses became more heated, their actions became bold. She almost jumped, though, when she felt the responding reaction of his body, feeling the hardness in her leg. She wondered when did she end up lying on the couch, or when did he climb up and covered her body with his, but found the questions unimportant as he assaulted her senses, tilting her head to give him more access to her neck. She was breathing hard, her chest heaving with each breath she took, and what more, her chest brushed against his hard chest for every breath she took. That alone made the fire inside her grew, and she found herself wanting something, something that she couldn't describe, something that…

All thoughts left her as one of the hands that were caressing her sides moved to her stomach, and then slowly, climbed towards her ribcage. The hand hesitated, stopping at the underside of her bra covered breasts. He stopped kissing her, too, and burrowed his face at the crook of her neck as he panted, his breath leaving goose bumps on her overheated skin.

Totally out of coherent thoughts, she tugged at his hair, willing him to move. If her brain wasn't muddled with pleasure, she would have been embarrassed at her audacity. But she wasn't thinking clearly, so she wasn't embarrassed.

At first, he hesitated to comply with her silent request. And then he raised his head and kissed her parted lips. They exchanged a passionate kiss, before he reluctantly left her lips to trail kisses on her jaw, to her ear, and down to her neck. When his lips met the fabric of her shirt, he stopped, but only to tug the shirt aside to let his lips touch the skin on her collarbone. At the same time, his hand that remained immobile started to move, slowly, gently, until it covered one breast. They both froze at the movement, though he was quicker to recover. He raised his head to look at her eyes, to see any signs of disagreement, and found wide, shocked eyes looking back at him. He was torn between the thought of pulling away and of wanting to stay. He decided to test her reaction, and experimentally moved his hand. Her eyes rolled back in response. It was all the response he needed. Thrilled, he kissed her lips, while his hand moved and squeezed gently.

She thought she would pass out, but surprisingly did not. However, she didn't have the energy to open her eyes. All of her energy was directed to her lips that couldn't seem to stop whimpering as he touched her gently. She was hesitant at first when it registered her brain what was going on, but the knowledge that it was him, the person she loved and who loved her back, the person she trusted no matter how much he annoyed and angered her at times, took her hesitation away. And after feeling the burning feeling it had created on her, she didn't regret her decision. Her body was on fire, her heart racing, her spine tingling with pleasure, and the heat at the most private part of her body was almost unbearable, especially when she could feel prominently on her leg his own reaction to her.

Eventually, though they both wondered where they got the will and energy to do so, their kisses gentled and the touches slowed, until they finally stopped, but not before he gave another squeeze that had her moaning his name.

"Aren't you just glad that it's raining today and that I didn't have umbrella," he whispered huskily after several minutes have passed after they stopped moving together.

Silence was her response. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to.

"I love you, Misa-chan," he murmured gently as he kissed her jaw.

"L-love you too, alien," she finally managed to say.

Later on when she was at the comfort of her bed at her room, the scene at his apartment kept playing in her head, making her feel warm and breathless. If that was how she reacted with a simple touch and with her clothes still on, she wondered what it would feel like and how she would react if she had nothing on and could feel his skin on hers. She shivered. It was a tempting idea, so very tempting. But, it was also scary. He evoked so many feelings from her and so many reactions that she wasn't familiar with, unfamiliar before he came into her life. Nevertheless, she fell asleep that night with a smile on her lips and dreamt of him in ways that had her blushing a very deep red when she woke up.

-x-

(19) Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

A/N: And there you have it. The title was pretty much obvious, the same with the coming chapter ;)

And before I forget, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers/mothers at heart out there! ;)

-Arvendell-

08 May 2011

1:00 PM