It was a hot summer day. Darien Chiba, as he walked home along the busy streets and sidewalks of the city where he lived, could feel a sweat beginning to break out along his brow. Already, he longed for the relative cool the night would bring — and for what he would find at his apartment.

His girlfriend, Serena Tsukino, had not had a good last term of school. Her report card, her father had said (her mother had passed on years before), had been an utter disgrace to the name of Tsukino. Darien found Serena's bad grades infinitely amusing, since he knew she was about as bright as blondes came those days. Still, her complete lack of motivation brought her atrocious grades and unkind comments from teachers one and all. Yes, she was a blonde — but it wasn't a turn-off. She was witty, when she felt the need, bright, charming, and utterly, head over heels, beautiful. Sure, she had a strange way of wearing her hair — it was what had made Darien notice her in the first place — but it suited her. Besides, he thought wickedly, he could always take those stupid "meatballs" out.

Anyway, the long and short of the matter was, Serena's bad grades had caused her to be grounded — for the whole summer. However, after the punishment was in place, Mr. Tsukino had recalled a two week vacation for the family — which comprised Serena, her father, and her little brother Samuel. Rather than cause Sammy and himself to suffer as well, Mr. Tsukino had arranged for Serena to miss out on this family treat by charging Darien with the care of her. It had been a difficult choice for Mr. Tsukino, because, although he liked and trusted Darien as a young man, he hated the idea of Darien and Serena dating. But the choice had been made, and Darien was to keep Serena in his apartment for the entire duration of the two weeks, which had started the day before.

Serena had put up remarkably little fuss about this, since she had expected Darien to take her side, and disregard the edict. But Darien found the whole thing intensely amusing, and wanted to see the effect being shut up for two weeks would have on Serena, let alone him. Well, she was extremely HOT, as he'd told himself many times. Ah, hell, he thought. She's not just hot, she's damned sexy.

As such thoughts crossed his mind, along with certain wicked images, he reached the block of his apartment complex. As he looked above, to his balcony, he was stunned by the sight of Serena, wearing remarkably little, lounging there. A wave of jealousy washed over him, and he rushed upstairs, determined to remove her from the balcony, where any passing male specimen was sure to spot her.

As he opened the door to his apartment, he called to Serena.

"Sere? You still here?"

She appeared, putting on an extremely sulky face. "Where else would I be? You locked me in!"

She was wearing even less than he'd thought. A pair of shorts that hardly deserved the name of underwear, and a light green, EXTREMELY tight halter top that ended just below the range of the permissable, and a neckline that went way below, yet managed to show his roving eyes frustratingly little.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Honestly, a girl is lucky if she can get a guy to look her in the face for more than ten seconds. Is my chest all you can think about?"

"Sorry," he muttered, tearing his eyes away from where they only too willingly focused. "Were you out on the balcony?"

She nodded. "It's so hot," she groaned, stretching her arms out above her head. Darien shut his eyes quickly, finding it hard to remain on task.

"Should I remind you that your father's instructions were that you remain INSIDE my apartment, and the balcony does not count as INSIDE."

"Good Lord, Darien!" she moaned. "Why are you so intent on following this to the dot? Can't I have any fun?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, like a grade-schooler, and flopped, belly first, onto the couch, propping her head up with her hands. Now the low neck of her top showed far more than Darien was prepared for, and he found himself growing stiff, staring down her shirt.

With an effort, he began to speak again. "You should have figured out that the balcony was out of bounds," he said sternly. "I think I'm going to have to put you — somewhere less equivocal."

He reached down and grabbed her around the waist, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin on his hands, and threw her over his shoulder. She was so light, to him — he was a lot taller than she.

"Darien!" she shrieked. "Put me down at once!"

He grinned as she pounded fruitlessly on his back, and carried her across, into his bedroom, where she grew suddenly quiet, and on into the bathroom, where he dumped her inelegantly. "And there you will stay," he told her, grinning all the while, "Until I say you can come out."

He turned on his heel, and locked the bathroom door behind him, conveniently pocketing the key. God, sometimes she drove him crazy.