Toki ni Ai wa

Disclaimer: Ever hear the expression 'She didn't even have a pot to piss in'?

Tsumi: Long awaited chapter nine! Now, everyone, I have a question (if any of you bother to read my insanely long author's notes): I'm coming to a point in the story where I can either continue or start a sequel. Which would you prefer: A sequel to this or just to continue as the same fic?

I also need to apologize for not putting in the translation to Toki ni Ai wa (Previous chapter song). If you want, I can either go back and add it in, or you can go to and get the translation yourself. Feel free to yell at me for it.

Next thing of business: I need duel songs! Write down the duel song you would most like to see in future chapters in your review!

Last thing: All bow down the wonderful Twilight Revolution who gave me the idea for the little cuddle scene in the middle of the story.

Warnings: To lighten the mood, humor. Lots of it.

Onto the fic!

Chapter Nine: Talks and Embarrassment

[Why can't the earth just open up and swallow you whole when you really want it to?]

Utena had the urge to bite her lip as her aunt's face didn't change expression. The poor woman still looked horrified, as if she had walked in on the most unspeakable of acts.

[Better yet, why can't I just drop dead?]

A quick glance at Yusuke, however, made her sympathetic. He looked downright terrified of her aunt at the moment and seemed to be considering running out of the house as fast as his legs would take him.

Time seemed to pass at an unbearably slow pace, until Aunt Yurika closed her mouth, and her face became a solid mask of impassiveness. Oh how Utena hated that look, as it normally meant trouble for herself. Aunt Yurika yanked the keys out of the door in that calm but agitated way and shut it, taking off her shoes and slipping on some house shoes. She set her purse and keys on the coffee table and looked at the two teenagers. "Sit. Both of you."

The two followed the command almost immediately, settling themselves on the couch while Aunt Yurika pulled up a chair directly in front of them. After sitting herself down, she gave the two the Look. Every teenager knows that look; the one filled with scrutiny and distaste. Utena bit the inside of her cheek and began chanting in her head. [I will not squirm. I will not squirm. I will not squirm . . .]

"So." Aunt Yurika finally said. "This is . . . interesting, to say the least." Utena winced as she felt Yusuke tense up slightly beside her. "I never expected you two . . ." She trailed off with a flick of her hand and Utena could see Yusuke's hand clench.

[God, Yusuke, don't say anything you'll regret later . . .] she prayed.

Aunt Yurika was silent for a moment, giving Yusuke the Look once more before her frown melted into a smile. "However, Utena does seem happier than I've seen her in a while. I guess I have you to thank for that." Her smile widened a bit as she said, "And you've, so far, been good to her. Again, I thank you."

The two teenagers relaxed and Yusuke offered her a smile. Her gaze turned to Utena and she said, "Utena, would you go fix us some tea, please?"

Utena gave a shaky smile and stood up, walking to the kitchen to prepare the drink. She smiled to herself as she placed the kettle on the stove. [That could have been worse . . .] she thought. The sound of the kettle whistling broke her thoughts as she turned off the burner and carried the tea and teacups into the room where Aunt Yurika and Yusuke were still in.

"Thank you, Utena." Aunt Yurika said, taking a sip of her tea. She looked at the rose cups and smiled. "I haven't seen these for a while, Utena! I thought you threw them out!"

"I collect them, remember?" After Utena said that, she blushed lightly, realizing that she just mentioned her childish collection in front of her potentially new boyfriend.

Yusuke, however, just smiled, leaned over and said, "Kawaii . . ." Utena felt her face become hot and realized she must be bright red by now. She gave a mock glare at Yusuke, who was currently smiling like the Cheshire cat, when she heard her aunt laughing.

After calming herself down, Aunt Yurika took a sip of tea. "You two seem to be quite close . . ."

"We know each other quite well, Auntie." Utena said. Of course, her aunt had to wait until Utena took a sip of tea before asking her next question.

"Well, are you two using protection?"

Yusuke felt his jaw drop at the blunt question. [She did NOT just ask that, did she?!] He thought frantically. He took a glance over to Utena, who was choking on her tea. He patted her back as she coughed.

As soon as Utena could breath, she glared at Aunt Yurika. "Auntie! That question is inappropriate!"

Aunt Yurika shrugged. "Well, I was just curious to know if I had a great niece or nephew on the way."

Utena buried her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed. Yusuke knew he was blushing as well, but at the moment, was able to form coherent thought. "You don't need to be worrying about that. I've never done anything like that with anyone!"

One of Aunt Yurika's eyebrows raised. "Oh really?"

Yusuke nodded and dimly noticed Utena looking at him in mild surprise. Immediately, he felt a little embarrassed. [I guess I should have told her sooner . . .]

"Well then, that clears up quite a bit of suspicion I had before." Aunt Yurika stood up, placing the chair back to where she had pulled it from. "It's too late for you to be going out, Yusuke, so you're welcome to spend the night here. Utena will get you blankets. Good night."

With that, she strode out of the room and down the hall. Once the sound of the door shutting was heard, Utena turned to Yusuke. "I am so sorry . . ."

Yusuke shrugged, not sure if he should laugh or be deathly afraid. "It's okay, I think. That was embarrassing." He muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"She not normally like this . . ." Utena offered.

Yusuke shrugged again and ran a hand over his eyes. "Damn, I thought she was going to kill me there for a moment."

Utena laughed slightly, laying a hand on his arm. Yusuke frowned slightly before he smirked as an idea came to mind.

Her laughs died and her eyes widened slightly as Yusuke pressed his lips to hers in a quick chaste kiss. Pulling back, his smirk grew slightly as he saw the stunned look and light blush on her face. "You look cute like that." he said, and nearly laughed out loud as it had the desired effect. Utena turned bright red and tried to hide in her arms. He circled an arm around her shoulders and smiled at her.

Utena smiled slightly, relaxing into Yusuke's hold. Yusuke noticed that she seemed deep in though. After knowing her for about a month, he picked up on the small traits that showed her current state. For example, the tip of her nose turned up slightly when she did something she didn't enjoy, or her eyebrow twitched when something violated her code of decorum. Right now, the slight downward tilt of her head and faraway look in her eyes meant that she was thinking deeply and that it wasn't entirely pleasant. He frowned lightly. "Utena?"

Utena blinked and looked up at Yusuke. "Hm?"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm just tired."

Yusuke's frown deepened at Utena's avoidance of the question but brushed it off. He blinked as Utena shifted a bit so that her head was lying on his chest. Looking down, he noticed that, indeed, she had fallen asleep. His lips curled up slightly finding that he couldn't move from the couch if he wanted to. Leaning back, he closed his eyes as well and fell asleep almost immediately.

"DAMNIT!!!"

Utena coughed in her hand to avoid Yusuke hearing her laugh. After her aunt stumbled upon Yusuke and herself in a, compromising position, Yusuke had been more than eager to go to school. Finally, the boy slowed down enough that the two could actually walk to school. "Think we lost her?"

Utena looked behind her and smiled. "I don't see her car anywhere." She laughed slightly. "I didn't know that you could use that way to get to school, Yusuke."

Yusuke smiled. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

Utena looked down slightly. "Same here."

Yusuke frowned before grabbing onto her hand. "Don't do that, Utena."

"Do what?"

"Drift off into your own world like that. It really freaks me out."

"Yusuke . . ."

"If something's bothering you, I want you to tell me!"

Utena sighed. "Forgive me Yusuke, but I just can't." She looked back up at him. "I'm sure that there are some things that you can't tell me. I don't ask about them, so please, do the same for me and don't force me to tell you things that I can't speak about."

Yusuke blinked before sighing and shoving his free hand in his pocket, his bookbag under tucked securely under his arm. The two were silent for a while before Yusuke said, "I forgot to thank you, Utena."

"For what?"

"You know, last night . . ." Utena smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Also, Utena, I was wondering . . ."

"You don't want me to mention it for fear of losing your reputation at school, right?" Utena squeezed his hand and said, "Not a word."

"Thanks."

Utena let go of his hand as soon as they got to the gates of Saryashiki as to not cause a reason for more rumors to spread. As usual, as soon as Utena stepped onto the school grounds, the members of the Utena Swooners Fanclub began their usual chorus of, "Ohayo, Utena-sama!" Utena simply smiled back and gave everyone a wave and a similar cheerful greeting, causing all of the girls to do what they do best and swoon.

Yusuke, for his part just smiled and for once, thought that he was glad to be at school. Or so he thought.

By the time fourth period had come around, a rumor had spread around the school that neither Yusuke nor Utena could deny as false. Yusuke knew that someone had gotten a hold of the little fact that Utena was now his girlfriend when he walked into class and was nearly tackled by Kuwabara. "Alright Urameshi!" He cheered. "I knew it was only a matter of time!"

"Kuwabara, what the hell are you talking about?" Yusuke asked in annoyance, removing the arm that the taller boy had thrown around his shoulders.

"You and Utena, stupid!"

Yusuke tensed up. "What the hell are you talking about, baka?"

"Duh, the entire school's talking about it!"

Yusuke looked at the ground. "Crap." He muttered under his breath.

"Yusuke?" He turned around before coming face to face with Utena.

"Hey Utena, what's up?"

Utena lowered her voice. "Everyone's talking about us, Yusuke. I nearly got killed by some of my fanclub members when I got out of history."

"How the hell did they find out is what I want to know!" Yusuke whispered fiercely.

"So, what are the two lovebirds talking about?" Kuwabara's face suddenly appeared beside Utena's and Yusuke's, making Utena yelp slightly in surprise.

Yusuke growled, pushing him out of the way. "None of your damn business, Kuwabara!"

"I was just asking, Urameshi!"

"Well, don't!"

"God, Urameshi, you weren't this defensive even when Keiko was your girlfriend!"

That caught the class's attention as everyone literally fell silent and stared at Utena and Yusuke. Yusuke froze, while Utena had a large sweatdrop roll down the side of her head. Finally, someone spoke up. "Noooooo! My Utena-sama can't be with Urameshi!" One girl in Utena's fanclub squealed.

"Oh boy . . ." Utena muttered.

"Damnit Kuwabara, for once in your pathetic life, couldn't you keep your big fat mouth SHUT?!"

"Urameshi! Kuwabara!"

For the second time that class period, Yusuke froze and turned to face the teacher. [Damnit, this just can't get any worse, can it?] He asked himself.

The teacher frowned "Office, now. Tenjou, will you please escort Kuwabara and your boyfriend to the office?" As the class cracked up with laughter, Yusuke growled. [Of course it could!]

Utena had a light blush on her face as she muttered a low, "Yes ma'am." before escorting Yusuke and Kuwabara out of the room, ignoring a few of the girls as they swooned, saying something about how cute she was when she blushed.

The silent trip to the Principle's office seemed to go by quite quickly. The principle looked up as Utena opened the door, followed by Yusuke and Kuwabara. "You two again?" The principle sighed. "Thank you, Tenjou." Utena nodded before bowing and turning to leave.

Yusuke caught her eyes and mouthed a quick apology to her, to which she smiled slightly and began her trek back to the classroom, where more torturous taunting would surely follow.

Lunch came rather quickly and Yusuke was there to escort Utena to lunch, as usual, with Kuwabara and Kurama. Utena smiled at Yusuke. "So, what happened?"

"The usual lecture. 'You're an embarrassment to the school, why can't you behave more like your fellow classmates?', on and on." He snorted and Utena laughed at his impression.

They soon reached the park that they always met Kurama at and sure enough, the kitsune was there, leaning against one of the many trees, looking up into the branches. He brought his focus back down and smiled at Yusuke and Utena. "Hello, Yusuke, Utena." He smiled in greeting.

"Hi Shuiichi." Utena smiled. She turned to Yusuke and said, "I'll go get my lunch, okay?" Yusuke smiled at Utena and she headed off.

Yusuke turned to Kurama once she was out of earshot and found the kitsune frowning softly at him. "What?"

"You know that getting into a relationship with Utena isn't the smartest thing to do, Yusuke." Kurama said.

"So what?"

"Yusuke, with Utena under so much suspicion from the Reikai, it isn't wise to become romantically involved with her."

"How the hell do you know that I'm in a relationship with her?"

Kurama smiled. "Hiei."

[That damn demon . . .] Yusuke thought, making a personal promise to hunt down his comrade and make him pay for spying on him.

"Yusuke, that is beyond the point. You know that she is, most likely, involved with this revolutionary power. To involve yourself with her like this now will jeopardize the mission."

"Kurama, I could give a rat's ass!" Yusuke exclaimed, his frustration coming to a point. "She's not involved in whatever went on at Ohtori Academy."

"Then how do you explain the power she used to defeat Hiei during their duel?"

Yusuke couldn't answer. It was then that the object of their discussion came back. "Yusuke? Is something wrong?"

Yusuke smiled at Utena and said, "Nothing, I was just talking with Shuiichi." He shot Kurama a look. "Right?"

Kurama sighed. "Yes, Yusuke."

Utena could reel herself frown as Yusuke avoided the real reason he was yelling at Shuiichi and decided she would question him later. Sitting down beside him, the two began to eat and talk about whatever came to mind. Kurama watched from the distance of a nearby tree and thought to himself. [I don't understand Yusuke's thinking. He saw for himself the power Utena holds, and yet he continues to ignore that fact in favor of her affections. It is possible that he is right, and, from what I know of her, she truly has no ill intentions.] Kurama frowned to himself. [She is a puzzle.]

He blinked as he felt Hiei above him. Looking up, he could just make out the Koorime, who was glaring at Utena. He chuckled to himself, knowing perfectly well that Hiei was still furious with her about the duel the other day. "Hiei. What are you doing?" Kurama asked quietly, making sure to not draw Utena's attention.

"Spying."

Kurama sighed quietly. "Fairy obvious, Hiei. Why?"

"Because it's my job."

Kurama sighed again. "I give up." He shook his head before standing up. He rose his voice and called out to Utena and Yusuke. "If you will excuse me, I believe I need to be walking back to school." He smiled and bowed politely, before throwing away the rest of his lunch and walking back towards school, Hiei following him.

Once Kurama left, Utena turned to Yusuke. "Yusuke, what were you really talking about back there with Shuiichi?"

Yusuke frowned slightly before smirking. "Remember what you told me this morning about not pressuring people to tell things they'd rather keep private? That should apply here."

Utena frowned slightly before sighing and finishing her lunch. Yusuke looked over to her and felt himself frown slightly as well. He sighed and said, "It was about us . . . you know." Utena blinked and looked over to Yusuke. "He . . . he's just being overly-protective." Utena nodded before smiling and standing.

"Let's get back to school, okay?"

Yusuke paled slightly. "Are you really crazy?! They'll kill us!" he said dramatically, causing Utena to laugh.

"The rumors aren't that bad!"

Yusuke mock-glared. "For you, maybe, but you have to remember: I'm the resident bad ass!" Utena and Yusuke exchanged mock-glares before the two of them burst out laughing.

Twilight Revolution: Arrigatou!

Mystic Light Maiden: Sorry about the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Delphine Pride: I'm glad you liked.

Shiroi Hikari: {snort} Don't we all feel that way? Anyway, expect to see Keiko again in later chapters and yep, they really got it from Yurika, ne?

Xtreme Nuisance: I like you screenname. Anyway, if you want, I can go back and edit that chapter and put the translation in. Sorry about that.

Read 'n' review, minna!