QoH: Poor Kiley! I just feel so bad for the dude... And that's not good, comin from the authoress...

Chapter 2: Even Through His Naiveté

                I must be getting close, Kiley thought. He didn't pay attention to room numbers, instead he'd tuned his ears to listen for Sae's voice. He knew if she was there, which he'd bet his life savings she was, she'd be trying to convince Toji to go out with her, or worse. He hadn't forgotten the plan Sae had explained coming from the roof. And she calls Momo the...

                "Toji, why won't you look at me?" The whine came from a room on his left, not far ahead of him. Speak of the devil, Kiley smirked, before opening the door.

                Or, at least, trying to. Evidently, Sae had taken precautions and locked it, probably when she came in. Well, she's not going to keep me out, he gritted his teeth and slammed his shoulder against the door, easily crashing through. He was greeted with the horrifying scene of Sae draping herself over an unwilling, but helpless Touji.

                "Oh, heck no, you don't!" Kiley snarled, yanking her off with one hand and up against the nearest wall, "Over my cold, dead body, witch! I will not let you go through with your sick little plan!" For once, Sae was speechless in the face of such fury. That, and the fact that she couldn't really breath, dangling as she was about a foot off the ground, his fist twisted in her shirtfront. (A/N: hehe ^_~ If only Kiley could continue like this and not get in trouble....)

                "Put her down." Toji said from behind him.

                Kiley looked over his shoulder in disbelief, "Why are you defending her? Don't you realize what she might have done if I hadn't come in when I did?"

                "Just do it."

                "Fine." Kiley let his arm down, but he didn't let her go. Instead, he kept his grip on her while he dragged a chair over to the window and cut down the curtain cords with his pocket knife. Within seconds, Sae was tied down very tightly, and she was not happy.

                "Let me go, you creep!" she yelled, straining against her bonds, "You have no right to do this!"

                "What's going on here?" a nurse stood in the doorway, no doubt brought by all the commotion.

                "It's all right, ma'am." Toji said, sitting up, "I'll take care of it."

                Her eyes flicked to the ruined door, then Sae and Kiley, who was still radiating anger. She looked back to Touji, "All right, but be sure to call if you need anything, then," she left, obviously wondering if she was doing the right thing.

                "Now," he turned his gaze back to Kiley, "I'm giving you a chance. So, explain yourself, before I decide to call her back. If you can, that is."

                Kiley flung himself in the chair at the opposite end of the room, "I suppose I should start by telling you that Momo is safe, though you don't seem to care a whole lot right now."

                Toji frowned, "What do you mean by 'safe?' When wasn't she?"

                "She has this bad habit of getting lost inside her own head when she's devastated," he leaned his head back against the wall, "The last time was when you tried to kiss her."

                "Didn't know she thought I was so repulsive." Toji muttered, slumping back against his bed.

                "Were'nt you listening before, dimwit?" Kiley stood angrily, his hands curled into fists, "It was only like that because you made the stupid mistake of trying it in the very same place you had that 'practice kiss' of your's!"

                "Yeah, so you say." Sae retorted, glee deep in her eyes.

                "The only reason you're not gagged right now, among other things, is because I'm forcing myself to be civil towards you, so don't try my patience," he glared at her before sitting back down, "Anyway, what I was going to say before I was so rudely interupted was that it was good thing I followed her."

                "How so?" Toji raised an eyebrow, clearly still suspicious.

                "She almost got herself killed," was the flat reply, "Several times over."

                "What?!" Toji sat up again quickly.

                "She managed to stumble her way into two cars, a dump truck, even a couple bikes. Luckily, only the bikes were moving at the time." Kiley sighed and slumped back in his chair, "But then, there was also the near miss with the bus."

                "Why didn't she say anything about this?!" he asked, wide-eyed.

                "She was never really given the chance. Momo didn't want to bring up the subject of you kissing that," he jerked his head toward Sae, his eyes narrowed, "and by telling you that she nearly made herself into road kill would, of course, do just that. As it turns out, that happened anyway, all courtesy of a certain little schemer."

                "Says who?" she returned defiantly, still struggling to free herself.

                "Don't bother. You're not going anywhere until I say so." Kiley shook his head and grinned derisively at her, "And if you so eager to talk, would you care to tell Toji here about our little chat on the roof, or shall I?" he laughed as Sae shut her mouth, sullen hate sparking in her eyes, "I didn't think so."

                "What are you talking about?" Toji was getting a bit frustrated with being out of the loop.

                "Well, let's by playing a little guessing game about what went on before I came in," he folded his arms as he got up and paced around his end of the room, "She told you she loved you, right?"
                "How did you know?" Toji asked, surprised.

                "Because that was part of the plan." Kiley turned around and pointed at Sae, "The one she wanted me to help her with."

                "And that included what, exactly?"

                "She wanted me to keep Momo away while she 'got' to you, so to speak, then bring her in at the 'right moment.' That way, you'd break up. Naturally, I refused."

                "How do we know you're not making all this up?" Sae snapped, trying to draw attention away from that landmine.

                "Oh, you should know better than anyone that I'm not," he replied calmly as he leaned against the wall, "Besides, what reason would I have to lie about any of this?"

                "You want Momo!" she cried, "That's why you're doing this!"

                "I won't deny that I do. But," Kiley slashed his hand through the air, cutting off an outraged response from Toji and a self-satisfied one from Sae, "why would I be here if I was willing to go to such lengths to be with her? If I wanted it that way, I could've just let you do what you wanted, yet you see me standing here, don't you?"

                "Why are you here, then?" Toji wondered, completely baffled, "Why are you doing this?"

                Kiley didn't seem to hear the question. He just walked to the other end of the large window and looked out at the hospital grounds, watching the gentle breeze blow through the trees. He closed his eyes for a moment, taken back to the day she'd saved him two years ago. He shrugged then, not turning away from the view, "She loves you. It's that simple."

QoH: *sniff* Like I said before... poor Kiley! Please review! ^_^