Nene rolled over in her bed, and saw Maki.  His boyish body was no more, and she saw him for the true man he was.  Suppressing the look of shock on her face and replacing it with a smile wasn't hard.  Maki grinned at her, and before she knew what had happened, Maki was on top of her, choking the life from her body.  Wide eyed, she gasped for air, but none came.  Then darkness was all she knew.

      Nene bolted upright from her slumber, seat covering her body.  It was only a dream.  But, what had happened seemed so real.  No.  Maki was just a boy he couldn't… She just didn't - couldn't, feel that way about him.  Putting the thought out of her mind, she laid her head back on her pillow and slept once again.

      The morning was grey and a fog choked the city of Tokyo.  The buzzer on Maki's alarm began blaring at precisely six o'clock.  Throwing the sheets off, he started to wish he had slept in more than his boxers.  The cold night air had practically frozen the cold tile under his feet.  Grabbing a towel, he sprinted for the shower, where he could at least have some warmth from the water.

As Nene stepped out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her body, but not before the cold air brought chill bumps to every inch of her.  Turning on her radio, she bent over to blow-dry her hair.  A panicked voice came over the speakers.

 "Special announcement!  Boomers have been spotted attacking downtown Tokyo! Evacuate immediately!"

"Oh God," thought Nene "I hope everybody else knows about this."  Linna answered the vid-link without delay.  Fortunately she had already heard and contacted everybody else.  Nene quickly pulled on a shirt and shorts and ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the Silky Doll.

      As soon as Maki heard, he put on his kaki pants and a tank top then bolted through the door.  His legs burned after the fifth flight of stairs.  Thankfully he only had two more to go.  As he rounded the corner from a flight of stairs, he noticed a sign through the window of one of the doors.  It read simply "Elevator" Maki felt it foolish that he had ran all this way.  Missing a step, he fell and busted his nose on the cold concrete stairs.

      The elevator flew upwards to where they were to meet.  Nene looked around her at the metallic doors and floor of the elevator.  She hoped she didn't see Maki there.  The memory of her dream still burned vivid every time she closed her eyes.  It just wasn't right for her to think like that.  Clearing her head of the picture that formed, she tried to concentrate on anything instead of letting her thoughts wander. Looking down at what she was wearing, since she didn't really have time to look while she was running out the door, she realized she had put on the shortest blue denim shorts she owned, and holes dotted the skin tight fabric to add to the humiliation.  Her face reddened and she tried to pull her shirt down, which successfully came halfway down to her naval.  Nothing was going to go right that day, it seemed.  The elevator began to slow and the doors shot open.  Nene stepped out into the hallway, glancing left and right before bolting down the every widening corridor… More and more places popped up where unseen eyes could be watching.  Before she knew it, she was in the control room.  Thankfully Maki was nowhere to be seen.  Questions floated in Lina and Priss' eyes, but nobody said a word.  The awkward silence ended when Nigel walked in the door.

 "Alright ladies, you know what this is about, lets get you suited up."

The door open unexpectedly and Maki walked in, cotton swab in his nose and blood stains on his shirt.  Everyone looked at him but Nene went as far as to say "Lemme guess, the floor jumped up and hit you again, didn't it?" 

Changing his focus to Nene, Maki started at her feet and looked up from there, his face getting redder and redder.  When he finally got to her face, he realized he had backed up against the door.  With a crease in his brow, Nigel ushered the girls and the infuriated Nene into the hard suit changing room.

      After the girls had left, Maki, still a little shaken up by the scandalous outfit that Nene was wearing, went to the control panel so that he could secretly watch Nene change.  He slowly zoomed in on his love, Nene.  Although he would never admit it, he had fallen for her.  Of course, she didn't return the feelings.  SHE always made fun of him, but he never said a word to her.  Caught up in his thoughts, Maki didn't notice the soft click of the door behind him, but the swift and painful hand across the back of his head brought him wheeling around.  Sylia was standing right behind him.  Of course, why not, nothing else was going right that day.  He calmly stood up and walked towards the door. 

"Where is everyone?" questioned Sylia.

"Their already getting suited up, you might want to hurry."

"Alright"

The door once again snapped shut as Sylia rushed through.  Maki turned around to turn off the monitor that Sylia had undoubtedly seen.  His feet drug on the floor as he walked towards the door once again.  He knew he would never be able to face Nene again.  He said a prayer for her safety before he walked out. 

      She cut through the air like a bullet, Sylia and Lina to her right and Priss to her left.  The air was peaceful.  Birds flew by every so often and light fluffy clouds dotted the atmosphere.  The city was full of towering monolithic sky scrapers, black steel stabbing at the sky.  But nobody was down there.  The eerie feeling of loneliness creped up on her.  Surely there must be some people still trying to evacuate.

"Hey Nene," it was Sylia.  "I think you have an admirer."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Oh nothing, besides the fact that Maki was watching you change into your hard suit, that's all."

Shock hit Nene more than the landing did. 

Maki was watching her?  How DARE he!  The nerve of him!

The first boomer she laid her hands on fell to the ground without a head.

What is he trying to prove?!?

Another unwary boomer fell to her hands.

Why!?

Three more fell.

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!

      She looked around for something else for her to destroy, but only darkness surrounded her.  The grey buildings loomed on all sides of her, an ominous threat.  The streets were empty except for her bright red suit.  Fury burned in her eyes and hope burned in her heart.

Maybe he does like me after all…

A dim yellow light glow slowly started to appear from the alleyway.  It grew and grew, until it seemed she was standing in the middle of a midday sun.  Nene stood upright, frozen where she stood.  A breeze stirred the papers in the street around her.  A poem surfaced in her mind.  It had kept her safe and seemed to calm her every time she heard it.

            Several times the winds pass by

            I sit and wonder why oh why

            Must our hearts carry on as they are

            I love you and you love me

            This is it, let us be one

     

The glow encompassed her.

A cool breeze fluttered Maki's coat.  He looked up and saw a pale spot on the dark street ahead.  He looked closer and started walking quickly towards it, after a few seconds he flat out ran.  Coming to a skidding stop on the damp pavement, he bent over and picked up what he had feared most.  Nene lay bruised and bleeding in his arms.  Tears streamed down Maki's face as he ran towards the nearest building.  Turning corner after corner never seemed to reveal anything besides more locked doors.  He ran until he grew desperate.  Lying Nene on the ground in front of a building, he threw his shoulder against a door, to no avail.  Time and time again he hurled himself with all his might until finally the door gave way.  He ran back, not paying any attention at all to his own shoulder, and picked Nene up.  Carrying her through the door way, he found what he would have called a store room.  Taking off his coat, he covered the naked girl in front of him.  Sitting as close as he could to her for warmth, he slid his arm around her and prayed.

Several hours passed with no sign of anybody showing up.  Maki opened his eyes and looked down at Nene, who looked back at him. 

"Oh God Nene!!  You had me scared!  I was for sure I would lose you…  I'm sorry about the monitor thing, honestly.  Nene's bright eyes looked up at Maki with a passion and thankfulness that couldn't be described by words.  Maki slowly bent over and kissed Nene on the lips, pulling back quickly as soon as he realized what he had done.  He looked down at her, a worried look in his eyes, but saw nothing more than a pleased smile.  Wrapping both arms around her, he passionately kissed her.

This paper is copyrighted by all the dudes who own copyrights to it,

And to the rest of you   :-p

Laters,

Nick