Garnet & Amber ...
XO'MagickMoon'OX
Just One Kiss …
Koryu stood quietly from his mattress, careful not to wake Hari and Ruri, and crept down the hallway. Lithe and swift as a shadow, he swept into Kohaku's room, making not one sound, not one creak or groan of the floorboards.
He stepped towards Kohaku's bed, where she was sleeping soundly.
"Why don't you just go tell her how you feel?"
Koryu gazed down at the angel, her hair strewn across her pillow like blonde silk, her face a vision of serenity, her skin pale and flawless in the faint moonlight shining through her window. Her lips … soft and pink as flower petals, slightly parted as she slept.
Koryu had many times before imagined what it would be like to steal a kiss from Kohaku, or to have her willingly give him one (he liked the idea of the latter scenario much better than the first), but he had never been bold enough as to act upon his urges.
Kohaku would probably freak out.
In a bad way.
She'd never talk to him again, probably call him a perverted, arrogant pig, or something along those lines. He didn't want that to happen.
If Kohaku turned away from him … ever … he didn't know what he'd do.
He wouldn't be able to stand her ignoring him. He wouldn't be able to stand not seeing that passionate anger flash through her eyes when he teased her, not seeing those adorable tears she cried when he bullied her, or not seeing that sweet smile she had, the one she used only when she was truly happy.
But … just one kiss, he thought. Just one, and she'd never know. She's sleeping so soundly, I don't think all the Trumpeters of Heaven playing their horns right next to her ear could wake her up, let alone …
Koryu bent down and placed his lips on hers.
Just one kiss.
For that brief second, time seemed to be standing still. Koryu felt his heart soar, his insides melt into a pool of sheer bliss.
This one moment was so precious, so perfect, that Koryu never wanted it to end.
But it had to, lest he wake the sleeping angel.
He pulled away, his lips tingling.
What he saw when he next looked down at Kohaku made his heart skip a beat in panic.
She was smiling.
"…" Koryu blinked, but when Kohaku didn't stir, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
She was still sleeping.
She was simply smiling in her sleep.
---
Koryu steadied his racing heart as he headed back to his futon. He had panicked for a moment, worrying that he had woken Kohaku with his kiss. What a mess that would have been.
She hadn't awoken.
But she had smiled.
Was it because of his kiss? Unconsciously, did she feel it? Did it work its way into her dreams and make her smile?
Koryu stopped in the hallway and leaned against the wall, his heart slowly returning to a normal pace.
Despite that moment of heart-stopping panic, the kiss had been a moment of sheer joy, one he would remember forever.
He smiled to himself and closed his eyes.
That was when he felt someone press their body against his, pushing him flat against the wall.
"What the –?"
He tensed for a minute until the person wrapped their arms around his neck and he felt the person's lips against his own, the stranger pulling him into a passionate kiss.
It was too dark in the hallway to see who the person was. They had come up so silently and quickly that Koryu had been caught off guard … very unlike him. And then he'd been seduced into kissing this person who'd snuck up on him in a dark, empty hallway … again, very unlike him, to be seduced so easily by someone who was, as far as he knew, a stranger.
And yet, their lips felt so familiar.
It couldn't be …
"Kohaku?" Koryu whispered as the person pulled away.
"Shhhh." He felt a finger against his lips, silencing him.
His heart began to hammer in his chest. The stranger pulled him closer and kissed his cheek, and then his neck, their warm breath caressing his skin. A fevered shock spread through his body and he felt weak, as if he would collapse at any moment.
Which he did, bringing his seducer down with him. The person laid half on top of him, their hands gripping his shirt as they kissed his temple, trailing down the side of his face with soft kisses, then down his neck.
"Wh … Who … are … you?" he gasped.
But the person didn't respond.
He went to search their face with his hands, but the person grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the floor above his head. So … did they not want him to know who they were?
The person's lips found his again. He felt their tongue against his mouth, begging for entrance. His lips parted, and their tongue slipped inside his mouth, brushing against his own. The sweet taste of …
Vanilla.
The scent, the taste … it was all around him. Who's signature was that?
Warm and sweet, welcoming and tantalizing … it consumed him. He started to feel dizzy with pleasure and the sugary aroma. He opened his eyes, only to find that his vision was hazy.
He sighed despairingly. He was going to faint … any moment …
Now.
---
"Gah!"
Koryu awoke with a start, only to find his breath forced from his lungs as someone stepped on his chest.
"Kokuyo! You bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Koryu shouted.
"I could ask you the same thing," Kokuyo responded, smirking. "Why are you sleeping in the middle of the hallway?"
"Huh?" Koryu sat bolt upright and looked around. It was early morning, the orange sunrise flooding the house from every window. He was, indeed, lying in the middle of the hallway.
Suddenly, he was assailed by memories of last night.
Sneaking into Kohaku's room …
Kissing her while she slept …
Standing against the wall in the hallway …
Someone pressing against him, kissing him …
Collapsing … the person following him to the ground …
Kissing … Dizzy … Hazy …
Vanilla …
Nothing.
And now, he was awake, sitting exactly where he had collapsed last night …
Alone.
Whoever had jumped him the night before was gone. But who had it been? He had tried to find out, but they had only silenced him. He couldn't see them, but they had felt familiar … their lips, their touch, their body …
"Get up," Kokuyo growled. He pulled his dazed cousin to his feet. "Why did you sleep in the hallway?"
Koryu narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Then he rushed to Kohaku's room. It was still early, and the angel was still sleeping soundly, almost in the exact same position she had been in the night before when he had snuck into her room. It didn't seem as if she had moved much at all since then.
It couldn't have been her.
Despite himself, Koryu felt a slight twinge of disappointment, and at the same time, great concern.
Then, who had it been?
Kohaku's eyes flickered open. Her gaze was foggy for a moment before the sleep lifted from her amber eyes and they glittered with life. She looked up at the demon standing beside her bed, glimpsed the expression on his face. Only moments later did it register with her that he looked worried and confused.
She sat up, brushing her golden bangs from her eyes. "Koryu, what's wrong?" she asked.
The demon shook his head. "Nothing."
Kohaku looked suspiciously at him. "Something's wrong."
"No, it's not," Koryu snapped. He folded his arms and looked away, his gaze still troubled, his eyebrows knit into a frown.
Kohaku sighed. "Why won't you talk to me?" she whispered so quietly that Koryu almost didn't hear her.
He froze, his eyes shifting to look at the angel. The despair in her voice was so deadening that he almost stopped breathing, smothered by the pleading look in her eyes, the yearning in her voice.
"You've changed, Koryu," she whimpered.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded. But he instantly regretted the irritability and harshness in his voice as he glimpsed the hurt on her face.
"W-Well …" Kohaku swung her legs over the edge of the bed, suddenly very interested in the flooring as she talked to Koryu. "You see …" She didn't know where to begin. There was so much she wanted to say. "I remember," she began, "when I first met you. You were this … this fiery, active, immature, straightforward demon. Despite the fact that you were a bully, I always admired the way you would say what was on your mind, the way you were persistent and determined, stubborn … always finding a way to get what you wanted."
She then focused her gaze on the window, still not looking at Koryu. She was sure that she would see surprise and puzzlement in his eyes were she to look at him. She continued, "As we spent more time together and our relationship grew to one of a strange sort of friendship, you still bullied me, like you had always done. The centuries rolled by, and you still had that edge, that blunt way of thinking and speaking, that fiery spirit, and that was what I loved most about you, despite the fact that you annoyed me to no end. True, I claimed to hate you, but I still admired that attitude you flaunted, wishing I could be a little more like you … strong, determined, brave. Even though you bullied me, I sometimes got this impression that you would never let anyone else push me around like you did, as if you would protect me from everything except yourself –"
"You mean like a big brother?" Koryu asked, his interruption surprising the angel.
"I … I guess one could see it that way, but I never did. I still don't … see you as a brother sort of figure." I see you as more than that, Kohaku wanted to say, but didn't. "Nevertheless, I still always felt … I don't know … protected, I guess, when you were around, and at the same time in terrible trouble." She smiled, her gaze once again falling on the floor. "And even though we argued and fought like enemies, we still had this connection, this –"
"Love/hate relationship," Koryu said softly.
"Yeah," Kohaku agreed. Her eyes grew sad. "But now," she almost whimpered, "now you're different. Even when Shuichiro was around, you were no different than you had ever been, always bullying me, but still always 'protecting' me. When I woke up about thirty years ago, you were still that immature, wild demon, except a bit more powerful. Then … Then you left."
Koryu bit his lip as he saw tears gather in the angel's downcast eyes. For the first time since she'd started talking, she looked at him. "And I felt so … incomplete without you, like something very important was missing from my life. Even Shuichiro was no compensation. And then … then after he left, I felt like everyone had abandoned me. I needed you around, to feel safe and protected. I had missed you … so much. More than I had realized."
The angel wiped her eyes. "Then, you came back. And you helped me … you saved me."
"'Saved' you?" Koryu repeated dumbly. "What did I do?"
"When I was sick," Kohaku said, "you took care of me, like I knew you always would."
Koryu's heart began to beat faster, more frantically. Where was this leading?
"After I started to get better, things slowly settled back to normal. But then, they started to change. You started to change. You teased me less, became more irritable and aloof. You're hiding your feelings, your feelings you used to wear so proudly on your sleeve. Your anger, your glee, your frustration, your sadness, your caring … you used to display them so prominently, and I could always count on you to be straightforward with me. But now … you won't tell me anything, and I can't tell how you're feeling." She sighed, her voice thickening with tears. "I know that you're mad at me more often now. Like when I knocked you into the pond, you didn't retaliate … didn't pull me in after you or anything like that. You just … yelled at me, like really yelled at me. I got so scared. Yesterday morning, I followed you around the whole time you went walking. I'd never seen you so frustrated … and so sad."
Koryu blushed. She had really been following him around the whole time?
"And every time I ask you what's wrong, you blow me off." Kohaku's pleading gaze grew desperate. "I just don't know what to do anymore!" Then, softly, she whimpered, "Why do you hate me?"
Koryu froze. "How could you …?" How could you think that? How could you think that I hate you? I love you! I'm just pushing you away because you're causing me so much heartache. But I don't mean to push you away … I'm just scared. You make things so complicated … you have me under your control, and you don't even know it. My emotions are tied around you finger, and you can do whatever you want with them. I have no control over my emotions any more … you have no idea how much hurt and confusion you're causing me! You have no idea how much I want you, how much I want you to love me back … but you're untouchable … my forbidden fruit. Your heart belongs to someone else, and I can't have it, as much as I want it.
That was what he wanted to say. But he didn't.
All he could muster was a weak, "I … I don't … hate you."
But this answer was unsatisfying to Kohaku. After all she had said, that was all he could say? She had practically opened her heart to him (leaving out the part about her being in love with him), and he was standing there, borderline speechless.
Koryu sighed. "Kohaku, I don't hate you." He stepped towards her.
The angel's heart began to race. Why was he coming closer?
He stopped about a two feet from where the angel sat, staring at her with emotionless eyes. "But you have no idea of how much you've changed," he said.
"M-Me?" she stammered. It was her turn to be taken aback.
"Yes, you. You're much less innocent and naïve than you used to be." Koryu's expression grew thoughtful. "I remember when I first met you. You were such a little bubblehead. Your naiveté was utterly hysterical; it made you an easy target."
Kohaku frowned.
"But, living here on Earth for so long … falling in love, having your heart broken … has all made you grow up a little. You have no idea how much more mature you are than you used to be. You are no longer so rambunctious and gullible …"
Koryu took a few more steps towards her, closing the small gap between them. He traced her jaw with his slender fingers. She shuddered under his gentle touch. He cupped her face and turned it up towards his.
"You have this … quiet wisdom about you, as if you're starting to learn to observe the world around you with silent contemplation … learning from other's mistakes … studying how to survive in such a cruel and ironic world …"
He let go of her chin, her heart sinking in disappointment as he turned away. Her face still tingled where he had touched her.
Koryu seemed to let the conversation end there as he left the room, leaving Kohaku alone to think about the words exchanged between them.