Chapter six

The park did, indeed, have grass. In fact, it had a full playground, swings and everything. Compared to the rest of the city, which was still partially in ruins with the main market, docks, and home arrangements being the most that had been rebuilt aside from the park, it was a heaven. It was almost like crossing into another world.

There were trees, as well. Many trees, ranging in all sizes. In the middle of the park was a large oak tree that even Kino had to admit would be fun to climb. That was one disadvantage to living in the ocean. No trees to climb.

As a child, Kino had loved to scramble up a large tree and sit in it for hours a time. Sometimes she would read, other times just sit and watch the world, oblivious to their audience, move by.

Howan, Kino, and Hayami made their way through the crowd towards the park entrance, the latter two practically being dragged by the former. After a point, Kino rolled her eyes and told Howan to go ahead of them, as the girl was beginning to bounce with anticipation. The older girl regretted this decision a few seconds later as Howan took off so fast she brushed by an older woman and knocked the woman's bags right out of her hands.

"Howan!" Kino called, but the little girl was out of hearing range. Sighing, Kino knelt down and helped the woman collect her things. "I'm sorry about that…"

The old woman only smiled gently, and waved it off. In an older grandmother type tone, she said, "Don't worry about it, child. It's not the first time it's happened today," she laughed, and Kino stood and handed the woman her bag. The old woman nodded and glanced back at Howan, who was waving frantically for Kino and Hayami to hurry. "You have a very cute daughter, miss. You two must be proud parents"

Kino blushed slightly, and opened her mouth to protest and explain that they were only watching Howan when Hayami cut her off, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you."

She turned and looked at him sharply. The old woman nodded at them and walked by. Kino stared at Hayami, who only smirked and shrugged at her, before pulling her towards the park entrance, his arm still around her shoulders. Not that she minded. It was quite comfortable, actually, and Kino found herself leaning into him.

He had an interesting scent to him. She hadn't thought about it until now, but he did. It was a mixture of salt water, a bit of copper, and a smell she couldn't place, but was certain it was uniquely Hayami. She had a sneaking suspicion that the copper fragrance was from blood. Not that she was surprised. He had almost been drenched in it a few days ago, and it was natural that a bit of the scent would still be present.

Howan came bounding up to them and latched onto Kino's hand, pulling her towards the swings. "Kino, come on! Push me!"

Kino found herself smiling at the girl's enthusiasm. It wasn't often the little girl got a chance to actually be a little girl. Usually, the girl was stuck trying to be as mature as possible in order to keep the boat floating. But now, Howan could run and scream and enjoy herself as much as her small heart wished.

Howan quickly took a seat on one of the swings, getting comfortable with ease. Kino came up behind her and placed her hands on the girl's back, giving a small push. Howan had been on a swing before, apparently, because after a few minutes- a few agonizing minutes of missing some good swinging time- of dealing with Kino's short pushes, began to pump her legs and forth to gain more speed and height.

This gave Kino a chance to take a seat on the grass beside Hayami, who was watching them. She leaned back on the grass, crossing her arms behind her head and relaxing. The feel of the soft grass was odd to her. So different from the cool feel of metal… So soft… it felt nice…

Hayami was watching Howan. The little girl was currently swinging up and down, and was talking with another little girl on the swing beside hers. They were chattering away happily, and Hayami had a suspicion that this was the first time in months, possibly years, that Howan had been around a child her age.

He glanced down at Kino, who was resting beside him. He couldn't help but smile. She had already dozed off, obviously figuring she had a while to take a quick catnap. He liked to watch her sleep. He'd only gotten the chance to do it twice, but he still thoroughly enjoyed it. Kino was always so tense, and a bit jumpy. He could see it in the way she walked and held herself. So, it was a bit odd, to see her so relaxed. Not that he expected her to be tense in her sleep… (Alright, that was a lie. He did half expect that she would be just as tense in a subconscious state)

She looked so content, as though nothing in the world were wrong. The tension and stress completely melted from her features. She was relaxed, completely. A small smile, barely noticeable to even someone who knew her well, graced her lips, and every so often, her eyelids would flutter. She had just about reached the limit where it could be called dozing, and was close to moving on to a full nap.

Hayami knew he should wake her, just in case. But he didn't want to. After everything she had been through, including the emotional and sexual stress going on between them, she deserved a chance to relax. That, and she looked really cute curled up on the grass like that…

Howan was still talking with the girl, and for the most part, Hayami was getting bored. He had nothing to do at the moment. He could get away with curling up beside Kino and dozing off as well, but then when Kino woke up she would get upset because he had left Howan unattended. So he was stuck being bored. He did love to see Howan looking so cheerful, but he didn't think he could stand being bored for a couple of hours…

"Hayami?" He looked up in surprise. Standing above him was the tall dark man that had accompanied Kino when she had first come to fetch him- Shidora was his name, if Hayami remembered correctly- and the Fire Are Control Specialist, Shiro. They both had very large boxes with them that smelled like Chinese food. Several dozen pounds of Chinese food…

"What are you two doing here?" Shiro asked, setting down her box and looking over at the sleeping Kino, who had rolled over to her preferred side and was more than likely now in a full sleep, rather than a nap.

Hayami motioned to the happy little girl on the swings, running a hand through his hand.

"Oh…"

Shidora grumbled something, but his box muffled it. Hayami felt his own curiosity spark as he watched Shiro take the box from him to find out what he had said. When it turned out all he was doing was complaining, she tossed the box back at him, causing the big man to struggle to keep his grip on it. Shiro then reached down and grabbed her box.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, watching in amusement as Shiro shifted the box, hers obviously being the lighter of the two.

Shiro jiggled the box. "Peace offering for Tsuji." He gave her an odd look, being the only person on the boat that didn't know of Shiro's misfortune. "I figure if he doesn't have to cook for a few days, then maybe he'll forgive me and stop ignoring me."

"We're gonna be eating Chinese food for three years." Shidora grumbled. Shiro's foot immediately met with his shin, causing him to utter a muffled cry in pain. Flipping her hair over shoulder, she glared at him.

All the noise startled Kino out of her nap, and she sat up suddenly and looked around, momentarily dazed. Recovering quickly, she yawned and stretched, reminded Hayami of a cat that just woke up. Looking up at Shiro and Shidora, she smiled.

"Hey. Is that Chinese food? For Tsuji I take it?"

Shiro nodded and smiled happily. "I'll save you something. Promise."

Kino nodded, and looked over to where Howan was. Her friends waved and left, with Shidora still complaining. After the two had disappeared from view, Kino chuckled. "They'd make a cute couple…" she mused to no one. Hayami sent her a glance, and she shrugged.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked suddenly, not taking her eyes off of Howan, who had abandoned the swings to go play with her new friend.

He thought about it for a minute. "Dunno," he said, shrugging. "Guess I just didn't want to. You really deserve to be relaxed right now. After everything I've put you through, not to mention everything else…"

She looked at him then. A small smile graced her lips as she leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder. Shifting a bit so that he was more comfortable, Hayami brought his arm up to rest on her waist. It was nice that they could both be so relaxed in each other's company. Very nice.

"What a day…" Kino murmured, running a towel over her damp hair. She heard Hayami chuckle from her bed as she walked out of her bathroom. It was around eight, and she was ready for bed. She was wearing a tank top and sweatpants; simple, but very comfortable.

Hayami looked up at her and smirked, having already discarded his own shirt. Tossing the towel aside, Kino pounced onto the bed and landed beside him, bouncing slightly. She laughed and messed with the pillows, attempting to fluff out the lump that had appeared over the day. Hayami simply laid back and kicked off his boots, already quite at home in her room.

Getting comfortable at her claimed spot beside him, she smiled slyly at him. "So, when are you bringing in your stuff?"

"Hm?" he murmured, pulling her closer. Resting a hand on his chest, she laid her chin on top of it and looked up at him, her eyes smiling. He cracked open one eye lazily and glanced at her.

"You've been here three days straight. You might as well move in." he laughed and gave a strand of her hair a quick tug. She glared and swatted his hand away. This only caused his smile to widen, and she rolled her eyes at him. Taking a much more serious look, she leaned up and whispered to him, "I wouldn't mind…"

"Really?" he asked, his own voice dropping several levels. Reaching over, he lifted her face towards his, locking eyes with her. Anything humorous quickly vanished from her face, easily replaced with a slightly dazed look. Her breathing changed, he noticed.

They leaned towards each other, neither wanting to release their partner's gaze. When they're lips finally met, it took only seconds before the quick chasteness of it melted away to something much more powerful. Something neither of them could ignore. The passion that emerged from them took over. The kisses grew fiercer, stronger, with each passing second. Neither really understood what was happening, but they both welcomed it.

Before either knew what was happening, he was on top of her, straddling her hips and attacking her neck with his lips. She moaned in pleasure as he moved to her shoulder, running his tongue along her soft skin. His hands moved to the hem of her shirt, lifting it as they moved up slowly, his fingers brushing her warm stomach.

She leaned up to him and captured his lips, savoring the taste of his mouth against hers. They were in heaven. Neither wanted the moment to end.

Unfortunately, someone had other plans. A knock at the door caused them to break away. Kino groaned and bashed the back of her head against her soft pillow, already missing Hayami's lips against her skin.

"What?" she barked, looking towards the door. Hayami sighed and pulled away, sitting on his heels as they listened.

"Kino!" Freeda called from the other end. "Get your ass up and moving! You, me, and Shiro are going out!"

"Freeda!" Kino groaned out, immediately wanting to protest. Freeda, however, saw this coming and cut her off.

"I don't care what you say; you are going!" She paused, and when hearing no further protests, continued. "Make sure you wear something small, and tight! I'll be back in 30 to get you!"

Freeda let out a whoop of happiness as she walked away, her footfalls growing fainter and fainter.

Kino sighed and rolled out of the bed, grumbling to herself as she walked over to her closet and began to rummage through it. She knew that Freeda would drag her out by her hair if necessary. But Kino really wasn't in the mood. For one thing, going out wasn't quite as fun as having sex with Hayami. In fact, it didn't even come close. She would really have preferred the alone time with her lover to going out with her girls. But she had no choice.

"You're going?" Hayami asked, looking at her in surprise. She nodded, continuing to go through her closet.

"No choice. Freeda'll have Tsuji cook me for dinner if I don't go. She's stubborn like that…" she trailed off, looking thoughtfully at a back dress that would come to her knees. Pulling it out, She shook her head. "Damn…"

Kino had never been big on skirts or dresses. In fact, she hated them. Which was why she only had three. The first being her formal wear for Blue Six, the second being her little black dress, and the third being an outfit that Kino felt would have been more appropriate on a hooker…

She could go borrow one of Shiro's… but then she'd be stuck going through the disaster area Shiro called a closet. And wearing one of Freeda's outfits was out of the question. Which meant she was stuck with the hooker outfit.

Sighing, she pulled it off of the hanger and walked into the bathroom. "By the way, don't be surprised if some of the guys come asking for you to join them in an outing."

He snorted. "Right."

"I'm serious. Despite what you might think, they do think of you as one of guys. You should accept. It might do you good to hang out with someone other than me."

She paused, before saying something else. "But, please, try and remember you're not single any more."

He laughed. "Yes, dear."

Stepping out of the bathroom, Kino looked down and then back to Hayami. "How do I look?"

Hayami almost felt his jaw drop. Several things crossed his mind to say: Drop dead gorgeous, Stunning, absolutely beautiful, ect. Instead, he settled for a sarcastic comment. "Don't you forget that you're not single, either."

She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled, knowing it was a complement.

She was wearing a very tight black mini-skirt that stopped well before it even came close to her knees, a tight red halter top that came to just above her stomach, and simple black boots. God, she really hated this outfit.

Hayami, however, seemed to really enjoy the view. Smiling, she walked over and captured his lips with hers, just before Freeda and Shiro knocked on the door, signaling it was time to go.

Author's notes: Sorry this took so long. School's out. I'm so sad. I may never see my friends again! It's so unfair! But, I suppose I'll make other friends. This chapter was full of Hayami/Kino goodies. Hope this hold you over until next time!

Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, please, Please Review!

Be back with the next chapter soon!

Graywords-girl♥