Sniffling lighting Hitomi wiped her nose on the Kleenex roughly and chucked it onto the floor to join the mass she had already tossed earlier. Dully her red rimmed tired eyes watched the television, not really taking in what she was watching. That is how she had spent the afternoon, a pathetic crying mass on the couch watching afternoon television, catching up on her soap operas.

Lately it seemed her life was almost a soap opera in some senses…

Hitomi let out a sigh, followed by a hiccup, and picked up the remote to channel surf, her mind and heart not into the epic search for quality television. Resting on the cooking channel she dropped the remote and rolled over, her eyes staring at the ceiling, too tired to continue her pity party she'd be throwing all day.

So, Van thought she was like everyone else.

Normally that statement might not have upset her so but his tone, his eyes, their fight… it had cut through her making her flee, her emotions too much to bear. It had been all she could do to keep from crying in front of Van, showing the jerk that he had hurt her deeply.

This week had certainly been an interesting first one, one she hoped every week wouldn't be like. If next week started like this she knew she would give her notice by the end of it. No job was worth this. She was emotionally drained, tired, and loosing her self-confidence the longer she was in the office.

Stupid Van and his legion of women.

Groaning Hitomi pulled herself off the couch and shuffled through the mounds of Kleenex, deciding that she would cook herself a wonderfully delicious dinner, something to keep her busy and hopefully make her feel better. Before she reached the kitchen a buzzing sound filled her apartment, the irritating sound of someone having come to pay a visit to her.

Curious, Hitomi raised her eyebrows and walked towards the intercom to see who possibly could have come to visit her. She wasn't expecting anyone…

"Yes?" Hitomi said pressing the button to communicate with the mysterious person down below. Probably a mistake, someone had buzzed her on accident or something. It had happened a few times in the short time she had lived there.

"Er…" the crackling voice said hesitatingly. "Hitomi? It's Van, can I come up and talk with you?"

Alarm triggered in Hitomi and she took a step back. What was that man doing at her apartment!? Wasn't it enough he harassed her at work but now was he trying to make her whole life horrible? Angered flared in her as she pushed the button, her tone icy before she cut off communication. "No, get lost!"

Licking her lips, eyes still blazing, Hitomi walked back towards the kitchen with every intention to forget about that annoying pest at the base of her apartment. Didn't he have anything better to do than harass her?

Before she reached the kitchen, however, the annoying buzz once again filled her apartment making her anger peak. Cheeks reddening as her anger slowly got the better of her, Hitomi marched back across the apartment and clicked the button again. "What?!"

"I want to talk to you," came Van's voice calmly, his tone somewhat hesitant that he himself was unsure about what he was doing. Sure it had been one thing that he had actually come to the conclusion to try to let Hitomi see the real him but now it definitely seemed the real issue would be getting her to talk with him again.

"I'll call the cops if you don't leave me alone! It's not the office so you can't boss me around!" Hitomi threatened making Van groan and lean his head against the cool bricks. This woman!

"Hitomi, can we please just talk like two civilized grown-ups?" Van said slowly, stressing each word to let her know that while he was loosing his patience and he wanted to have a serious talk with her.

In turn she blew a raspberry and cut off communication again.

A loud, frustrated growl escaped his throat and he was about to press the button again, perhaps repeatedly just to piss her off, when one of Hitomi's neighbors came up behind him, unlocking the door and walking in. Seeing the chance Van quickly grabbed the door and walked in, thanking the person when they turned around, and giving an excuse that his girlfriend was mad at him.

Hey, it wasn't like the person knew Hitomi wasn't his girlfriend. Besides, they might make good on Hitomi's threat if they knew that Van was only Hitomi's boss trying to talk with her outside the office.

Leaning back he glanced at the buzzer he had just been playing with to see which apartment the ever-annoying Hitomi resided in. Apartment 3 F, perfect. Grinning he crossed the hall and pressed the button, patiently waiting for the elevator to arrive to take him to Hitomi and hopefully break through their misunderstandings.

Or kill each other in the process, whichever came first he grinned.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hitomi grabbed the dish towel, twisting it around in her hands, as she glared at the intercom. Perhaps the idiot had gotten the message and left. But knowing Van that wasn't the case and he was planning something. Perhaps he was just sitting down there waiting until she was busy to buzz again. He was annoying like that, Hitomi reasoned twisting the dish towel harder, wishing it was Van's neck.

Throwing a nasty glare once more at the intercom as though she were afraid it might blow up at any moment, Hitomi turned back to the kitchen determined to ignore it if it buzzed again. Turning on the radio she smiled weakly and opened the refrigerator to find out what she had…

Only to be interrupted by the knocking at the door.

Trudging over to the door, Hitomi went on her tippy toes to peer through the peep hole only to nearly fall down. A rather grim looking Van was on the other side, one hand ruffling his hair as he looked to his left and right uneasily.

Sliding the chain to protect herself, Hitomi opened the door and peered through the crack. Van looked at the gold chain holding the door shut incredulously.

"Can I come in?" he asked, and re-shutting the door, Hitomi un-slid it.

"Leave me alone!" she exclaimed, and about to slam the door with a satisfying slam in his face, Van stuck his arm in the way and stepped in. Rubbing his now sore arm in annoyance, Hitomi took an instinctive step backwards as Van put his hands in the air.

"I just want to talk to you about something, and then I'll leave," Van said calmly, feeling rather embarrassed and pathetic.

"...I'm listening," Hitomi finally exhaled, after looking Van carefully up and down, trying to read his every move.

"Thank you," he nodded, and as Hitomi wandered into the kitchen, he doggedly followed. Slamming open random cupboards, opened the refrigerator to grab some chicken, and then threw herbs and spices onto her counter as Van leaned casually against the counter.  "First off I want to apologize for exploding at you today... but you realize that it was partially your fault it happened."

"My fault?" Hitomi replied incredulously, her hand stopping its course of shaking seasoning onto the chicken legs. It was one thing that the man had barged into her apartment but it was quite another that he was putting most of the blame on her for the fight that afternoon. "How is it my fault? You were the one who –"

"Yes, but you were the one playing hot and cold with me today," growled Van inching his way closer to her, his eyes focused on the chicken.

"Well YOU were the one who was cold to me the day before!"

"I wasn't being cold," Van replied lamely, stalling for time. He could think of nothing to say. "I was being..."

"Cold?" Hitomi quipped, rubbing spices into the skin of the chicken, a small smile threatening at the corners of her lips.

"Alright, alright, I was having a bad day," Van gave in, scowling slightly much to Hitomi's amusement.

As Hitomi plopped the raw meat into a dish and slid it into the oven, she washed her hands, humming to herself as Van voice something that he had been bugging him.

"Hey, Hitomi?"

"Yeah," she replied, drying her wet hands with a white paper towel.

"What were you and Holly really talking about before?" he asked, trying to keep his expression nonchalant.

Freezing, Hitomi turned to face Van, her expression unreadable.

"I'd rather keep that private," Hitomi replied finally. A part of her really didn't want to lie to him; however she couldn't let him know what Holly said.

Now his curiosity was really up.

"What could be so bad that you can't tell me?" Van tried, going for a more subdued approach.

"It's not bad," Hitomi replied, stretching the truth. If she didn't believe it, it wasn't bad.

The problem was… did she believe it?

"Then tell me," Van beseeched, and Hitomi turned her back, busying herself by wiping down the counter.

"Are you insecure or something?" Hitomi asked, "Because if you were confident about yourself you'd have nothing to worry about."

"I'm confident," Van protested, "I'm also curious, that's all!"

"Sure, Van, sure," Hitomi teased, and Van felt a sort of whoosh go through him. She hadn't called him Van in ages. It felt so much better then 'Mr. Fanel'.

Deciding to let the matter drop till later, Van picked up a spice container and played idly with the lid as Hitomi began to chop some carrots, the sound of the knife sliding through the orange vegetable crisp and smooth.

"You look like a good cook," Van complimented as Hitomi deftly worked with the different ingredients, "I usually have to order in or get something instant."

"It's not that hard," Hitomi laughed, "You just follow recipes, and eventually you develop a sort of intuition."

"Easier said then done," Van muttered, and Hitomi turned to face him.

"It's the same with computers," she quipped, and Van grew sheepish as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alright, point taken," he grumbled. "No need to rub it in."

Biting her lip as a small giggle escaped her lips, a faint flush angled across Hitomi's cheekbones as she drizzled the vegetables with parsley, brown sugar and oil.

"Uh, Van?" Hitomi asked, as Van was rummaging through a wire basket of garlic and onions, "Would you like to stay for dinner? I think I made extra." Avoiding eye contact, Hitomi poured the colorful legumes into an over dish as Van grinned moronically.

"Free food, hell yes," he replied joyfully, and Hitomi elbowed him in the rib after shutting the over door again.

"That means you have to wash the dishes," Hitomi smirked, and Van's face fell.

"Oh well," he shrugged, "No big deal". In truth, Van had rarely had home-cooked meals, and had never washed the dishes except for maybe twice in his life. Memories of dirty pizza boxes and Chinese takeout shoved into the garbage walked hand in hand with memories of Dornkirk, and Van turned physically, as if doing so would veer him from remembering.

"You took that rather well," Hitomi laughed, "Whenever Amano comes over he complains like a baby when I force him to wash the dishes."

"Amano?" Van asked casually, and Hitomi looked up at him, his expression unreadable.

"Remember? That picture on my desk of Makoto? Amano is the father, with my friend Yukari."

"Oh, right," Van nodded, releasing a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

"Dinner should be ready in 30 minutes," nodded Hitomi, "Do you want to watch T.V?"

"Actually can I see the balcony?" Van asked, his voice soft as it fell through the glass doors to the lush green trees. "In my apartment all I see are city lights."

"City lights twinkle, they're better then this place," Hitomi replied, following Van as he slid the doors open and leaned against the iron rail.

"But look at the trees, they're nice," Van breathed. The night cloaked the cherry blossoms to a sort of magical color, some street lamps creating a sort of fairyland appearance. As she looked up from the trees to Van, Hitomi softened at the sort of dreamy expression on Van's face, so innocent.

Stepping beside Van Hitomi leaned on the balcony railing, her eyes surveying the area. "Honestly, I've never really stopped to think about it… I mean, it's just a place to live, you know?"

"Yeah," Van said slowly, his eyes on some distant point. Turning, Hitomi looked up at him trying to figure him out. It seemed that she had hit a soft point, something which made him retreat some. Part of her, one she didn't even realize she had, wanted to reach out and hug Van, take away his pain his eyes were showing.

After a few moments of Hitomi's staring at him Van turned around and looked at her. Suddenly they were lost in each other's eyes, both trying to figure out the other person, to know who they were and what made them tick. Hitomi, slightly startled by the look overtaking Van's eyes (was he trying to tell her something?!) and took a step back and glanced into the kitchen, her cheeks slightly flustered.

"Well, I'm sure dinner is almost ready and we need to set the table," she excused herself, rapidly moving into the kitchen to escape the scene once again.

Taking one last look at the scenery, Van followed Hitomi as she pulled the savory dishes from their hot cocoon of the oven and placed them on cork mats. Removing her oven mitts, she thrust open a drawer and nimbly picked out two forks and two knives.

"Oh god that smells good," Van groaned, and Hitomi used tongs to place some vegetables and chicken on his place, then her own.

"Dig in," she nodded, and as she speared some asparagus with her fork Van took the pitcher of water sitting on the table and poured himself a glass. Hitomi sat down and raised her eyebrow, her eyes narrowing at Van slightly. Worried, Van gave her a quizzical look as he sat down across from her.

"What?" he asked slowly lifting the napkin and putting it in his lap, concerned he had crossed some invisible etiquette rule that only Hitomi herself knew.

Rolling her eyes Hitomi tried to contain her smile. "Some gentleman you are," she snorted reaching across the table to get the water container for herself. Smirking, Van raised his glass in a mock salute making Hitomi giggle helplessly and start eating. They ate in silence for a few minutes until Van, remembering their first lunch together, grinned devilishly and rested his fork on his plate.

"So… about your ability to bend men to your will…?" Van started, his smile growing as Hitomi started choking on her chicken. Smacking her hand against her chest to dislodge the chicken piece Hitomi looked up at Van, her emerald eyes filled with a mixture of alarm and amused annoyance.

"Ooooh gods, not that again," Hitomi sighed rolling her eyes and taking a sip of water.

Laughing, Van waved his index finger at her. "Oh come on, you aren't getting off that easy. I want to know how you got into that and how many men joined your underground legion."

"Grow up Van," laughed Hitomi, her eyes twinkling. Looking up she inwardly laughed helplessly as Van continued grinning at her letting her know there was no way she was getting out of it this time. Rolling her eyes and giving him a look of pure irritation she started. "Well, you see, when I got out of college I kind of needed a job and one of my friend's parents owned a massage shop…"

"Go on," grinned Van broadly.

"I don't know… I worked there until I got this job, moved into the city, and that's that."

"This friend, was it the one with the kid?" inquired Van taking another bite of his chicken.

"Nah, Yukari's parents are very conservative. It was another one of my friend's from high school, Atsuko Suzuki… her family was pretty out there," Hitomi smiled, her lips curling at various memories that flashed through her head.  

"So, how exactly did you learn your powers of manipulation then? Or do you just have a natural touch?" teased Van, taking a sip of water to keep himself from grinning broader. This was highly amusing, carrying on a conversation and enjoying dinner with someone instead of sitting in his apartment eating frozen dinners. He could definitely get used to this.

"Oh, well, Sanjay helped me learn the tricks of the trade pretty quickly. He was great," smiled Hitomi taking another bite of her asparagus.

Raising his eyebrows Van said slowly, hoping he didn't sound that interested and casual. "Sanjay…?"

"Yeah…" Hitomi said then looked up. Was it possible that Van was possibly jealous at the mention of another guy? "Why are you so curious?"

"I'm not," Van replied automatically. "I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Oh, so you aren't interested in the wild hot sex we had then?" Hitomi said innocently, sipping her glass and nearly choking at the expression the crossed Van's face. Biting her lip Hitomi stood and looked down at Van, her whole face alight. "Nothing really happened with Sanjay and I you know."

"Couldn't bend his will?" suggested Van getting up and taking his dishes to the sink with Hitomi.

"It could be that or the fact that he was over forty, married, with three kids," laughed Hitomi putting the dishes in the sink and hoping up on the counter so she could talk with Van and instruct him properly as he did his work.

"Hey, where there is a will, there is a way," Van stated wisely as Hitomi handed him the sponge and he dumped soap on it, filling the sink with warm water and scrubbing the dishes.

"Why, Van Fanel, are you suggesting I turn into some Scarlet woman?" gasped Hitomi in mock shock, leaning back to get a better view of Van's face. He smirked heavily shaking his head slightly, almost on the brink of laughter. After tonight it would definitely be hard to go back to his usual pattern of being alone with the microwave and his television for company.

"This is nice," commented Hitomi after a few moments of silence, hoping off the counter and walking across the kitchen. Van watched out of the corner of his eye as Hitomi picked up the phone and started dialing a number. Noticing Van watching her Hitomi smiled. "Yukari. I have to ask her what time I need to be at her place by tomorrow."

"Ah."

A few rings later the cheerful voice of Makoto filled the phone, Yukari yelling vainly in the background. "Hawo?"

"Makoto?" Hitomi said, shocked. Last time she checked two-year olds didn't exactly have the ability to answer phones…

A squeal of delight filled the phone causing Hitomi to move the phone away from her ears and wince at the volume of the child's voice. If only children came with a sort of volume control button which allowed you to put them on mute.

"Hitomi?" the voice of her friend yelled into the phone seeming to have successfully wrestled the phone from her son's hand.

"Are you turning your son into a trained seal?" teased Hitomi as Yukari let out a huff as Makoto raced around the apartment, a series of bangs and yells from Amano faintly heard.

"Haaa haa," growled Yukari, her mood obviously not the best. "So, what time are you coming tomorrow?"

"That's what I was wondering."

"Er… depends, do you want subdued Makoto or hyper?"

"Hmm…" before Hitomi could answer she felt a tap against her shoulder. Looking up she found Van mouthing something to her. Confused, she mouthed 'what' and shrugged her shoulder.

"Where is the bathroom?" Van hissed quietly.

"Down the hall," Hitomi hissed back watching as Van nodded and headed off.

"Fee fai fo fum, is that the voice of a man in Hitomi's apartment!?" squealed Yukari, her excitement carrying through the phone line.

"I just invited Van for dinner, that's all." Was it really?

"So, have you guys had your wild hot –"

"Yukari!" screamed Hitomi blushing furiously. "I'll see you tomorrow morning around nine!"

"Send me some copies!" screamed Yukari before Hitomi hung up, her face a brilliant shade of red.

The sound of the toilet flushing was audible, and then the screeching of the sink handles being turned as water was heard. It then shut off, and after a bit of rustling Van emerged from the bathroom, and cocked his head at Hitomi who was bright red.

"What happened?" Van asked, and Hitomi merely laughed nervously.

"Oh, nothing, just... Nothing," she finished lamely.

"There is an awful lot of 'nothing' in your vocabulary miss," teased Van standing awkwardly in the hall, unsure of what to do next. Should he invite her for ice cream or something? All that awaited at home was nothing and tonight had been fun, an evening he didn't want to end.

"So..." Hitomi started vainly thinking of something to say, part of her not wanting the evening to end.

"So... what?" asked Van crossing his arms across his chest reminding Hitomi of an impatient child waiting for his parents decision. Rolling her eyes Hitomi plowed ahead, saying it quickly before she lost her nerve.

"Do you want to stay for a movie or something?" she asked quickly, although to Van is sounded like, 'wannatchovieorsomething?"

"A whole two hours or more with you?" Van teased, and Hitomi threw him an indignant look after he added leisurely, "Why not."

As Van flopped down onto the couch, Hitomi slid open the glass cupboard and slid her finger against the different movie titles.

"Anything in mind?" she asked, and Van crawled over to peer at the selection.

"Anything but romance, down with love!" joked Van.

Hitomi shot him a wry glance, before sliding out Ocean's 11. Though Van had seen the movie a million times, he didn't mind as Hitomi curled up on the other end of the couch, her attention on the screen. Watching her with his peripheral view, occasionally sneaking sideways glances, Van didn't notice through out the movie Hitomi slouch more and more, eventually leaning on the couch arm, her legs curled against the side of his.

"I love this part," Hitomi mumbled as the colorful screen was reflected on her face. Van, having seen the movie enough times to find the SWAT team being the actual robbers not drop-on-the-ground-hilarious, turned his attention to watching Hitomi. Her long legs were curled comfortably against his, something he wondered if she was aware of. Hitomi's short cropped hair was slightly disheveled, much like his own, from moving her head around and, from the amount of tissue in the waste basket, a day of sulking. The corners of her lips were curled in a smile as the scene unfolded, the smile turning into laughter as the casino owner realized he had lost his money. 

Unfortunately, the end of the movie came and Van had no real excuse for hanging around any longer. Glancing at his watch he was it was almost midnight, even more evident from the way Hitomi let out a long yawn. Stretching lazily Hitomi stood and turned off the television and turned to Van, a sleepy smile on her face.

"Any other movies you want to watch?" Van half joked, stalling for time. Laughing, Hitomi scowled at Van and ran her hand through her hand, thoroughly messing it up.

"Why Van Fanel, I do think you are trying to keep me up all night."

"What if I am?" he grinned standing up and stepping towards Hitomi.

"Well," Hitomi started then stopped, screwing her face up in thought. "I might just have to wake you up early and take you along with me tomorrow to play with the Makoto all day."

Holding up his hands in defeat Van started walking towards the door to put on his jacket. "I get the picture, I'll go, I'll go."

Hitomi followed Van to the door and watched as he slipped on his jacket and handed him his brief case, crossing her arms across the chest and rubbing them to keep them warm. "Tonight was fun, perhaps we should do it again sometime… although I don't want it to happen the same way."

"Well, I'll keep it in mind in case I need to take extreme measures," Van grinned, and Hitomi smacked him on the arm as his eyes danced with laughter.

"I'll see you later," she smiled, and as Van stepped through the doorframe he turned.

"Goodnight," he nodded, and then; how he got the courage he had no idea. Using his free hand he gently rested a hand on her shoulder, and tilted his head, planting a pillow soft kiss on the apple of Hitomi's cheek. His lips barely grazed her skin, and a shiver slithered down her spine as he quickly parted. Like lightning, blushes engulfed their faces and before Hitomi could say anything Van had ran down the hall way, rounding the corner to the elevators. In a daze, Hitomi shut the door, and leaning against the cold surface she slid down to the floor with a happy smile on her face.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

19.10.03:
CxV: ALL THESE FIENDS WANT TEENAGE MEAT! ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MURDERERS!!!!!! XD Gotta love the Distillers
MT: Riiiiiiight… we decided to reward everyone with a new chapter… Anne should be working on homework before work but we all know how lazy she it. :p
CxV: And how studious Ingrid is *halo appears*
MT: Sure… that's why I harass you to work? *raises eyebrow playfully*
CxV: *whistles.... dreads being killed in mosh pit at Rancid concert with a certain boy she is trying to avoid*
MT: Anywhoooo, must do homework before work so enjoy people! Leave a review if the urge fetches you!

Disclaimer: We do not own Escaflowne in any shape or form. This is purely a fanfiction making no money so don't sue us please. *grins* Fanfic written by Ingrid and Anne so respect their work, yo.