Mornings

By Cassandra Sisenta

A/N: Finally, Kagami makes an appearance. Heeheeheehee! He's awfully mysterious. I'll have so much fun writing up his profile. ^^ And Tsuko's such a defensive girl. *huggles* Love them!

DISCLAIMER: Own nothing but Kagami and Tsuko.

Chapter VII

Kagami and Tsuko

Splish.

"That."

Splish.

"Damn."

Splish.

"Ahou."

Tsuko Kou growled as she trudged towards her room, wishing with all her might that no one would catch her dripping all over the polished marble floors. She was dressed in her casual clothes and she was dripping wet from head to toe. The braid that hung at one side of her face was clinging to her shirt and her long bangs had to flung out of her turquoise eyes. They won't behave and if she left them on their former positions, they would have made finding her way much harder.

Her shirt was clinging to her and if she had paid attention then she would have realized that she would have been quite the spectacle among the woman-starved guards if they had seen her. Her pants weighted her down and they were trailing along the floor over her squishy sandals, a puddle trail flowing behind her.

She growled once more in frustration as she refused the urge to shiver suddenly. It was kind of cool since it was still a bit early. Her wet state wasn't helping things.

Obviously, having herself drenched with a bucketful of water wasn't something she looked forward to in the morning either. Well then again, she never fancied it as a particularly pleasant even at any time. Especially since it was a certain baka Neo-Striker who had been at fault.

"Baka ahou." She began her tirade again. "Morning shower. Clumsy baka. I'll get him when I get dressed again…"

The only sound that had been ringing in her ears all the time that she had been walking through the halls had been the squish sounds of her sandals and the occasional slop of her pants. Imagine her surprise when she heard a voice smooth out from somewhere behind her.

"Ah, but you are fond of him. That you can't deny to yourself."

She froze and suddenly she became quite aware of the speed of her pounding heart.

That voice almost always sent shivers up her spine. She knew of few people who could stand it and they had been spending years with him already so it had to be expected that they get used to it.

However for the life of her, how she would be able to get used to such a spine tingling, sing-song voice was just impossible to think about.

She turned and found no one, but she was sure he was around. Her eyes fell on the small corner there by a tapestry where the sun from the windows didn't touch and there he stood. He was dressed in his trademark white clothes and she wondered how she hadn't noticed him standing there before against the shadows when his clothes were so white and he was so pale. His gleaming silver hair was left flowing down his back that morning and his piercing blue gray eyes were staring right at her as if he wanted to melt her on the spot.

He pushed off the wall he had been leaning against, he must have been looking out into the courtyard below, with one liquid motion. His footsteps were silent and yet you could have heard him approach. The sound of small bells that hung somewhere around his ankles always gave him away. She had always wondered why he wore them, but no one had actually been brave enough to ask him why.

It almost shocked her when she found that he was now standing so near, his distance only about a foot away. One of his elegant hands moved up slowly in an almost hypnotizing manner to suddenly snap out. She cringed and stepped back, cursing herself for doing so.

She was a senshi. She was trained to defend herself, damn it.

And surely, Kagami Akari wouldn't be as insane as to actually attack her within the castle's walls.

Right?

When whatever pain she had expected hadn't come, she tentatively opened her eyes and was surprised to find a white sort of cloak held out for her to take.

"You are cold. Are you not?"

There was that voice again.

She forced herself not to shrink away and actually take the cloak offered to her. It was a bit heavy and made of the finest material. Around her shoulders, it fell to pool around her legs. She was almost swallowed whole by it. It was warm around her and she was sorry that she had to ruin it because she was wet.

"It is but cloth. It will dry."

Once more, she was surprised by the sound of his voice that she had impulsively looked up. Her gaze met with subdued half-lidded blue gray eyes.

Tsuko hadn't really come across the silver-haired former Knight like this. She had never really talked to him, but who she was seeing now wasn't exactly the Kagami Akari she saw almost everyday. Kagami Akari always managed to frighten everyone when he was around. It was either because of his smile, that just looked far too evil for his beautiful face, or his comments that always had a lot of hidden meaning to them. It didn't help that Kagami had the power to read minds and pluck information from people out of thin air.

"Shouldn't you be going now?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts and she only then realized that he had retreated back to his corner and was looking outside the window. Just as she surmised he had been doing before she came around.

"You'll catch a cold and he would certainly be worried."

"He shouldn't worry!" She snapped without her meaning to and it showed a second later when the most horrified expression came alive on her face. She immediately turned away from the one who had lent her his cloak.

Why were they talking about him, of all people?

They were talking about the same person weren't they?

She froze up once more.

Mattaku….

"Naa?" There was now a teasing hint to his sing-song voice, but he hadn't moved from his earlier position. "You couldn't have stopped him no matter what you may want. He is his own person, you do realize?"

"And you're your own person too, aren't you?" It was more of a demand than a question. She would not look at him. Her hands clenched at her sides. "Just mind your own business!"

This time she did move off, her sandals making more violent squishes as she stomped away.

Kagami didn't move, his gaze settled on the view outside. He seemed to wait before all evidences of her presence had disappeared.

Moments later, one side of his lips curved into a smile.

His usual smile.

"Sou ka." He murmured, his tongue caressing each syllable smoothly.

He pushed away from the wall once more and walked off to the opposite direction of where Tsuko was headed. The sun's light poured in from the windows and made his silver hair gleam even more. The jingling of small bells accommodated each otherwise silent step he took.

With his flowing white clothes, exquisite silver hair, and the faint sounds of bells, which accompanied him wherever he went, he reminded others a lot of a fairy or of some otherworldly being.

But certainly he was no such thing.

"I wish I could mind my own business myself, Tsuko Kou." He said in a smooth, almost conversational tone.

Jingling bells.

"But I'm afraid I couldn't…"

Jingling bells.

"…Not when I am myself."