Chapter nine

Time passed quickly for both Kino and Hayami, and before either realized it, two weeks had passed. Two weeks of pure bliss for both. Neither had ever been in a relationship quite like the one they were currently in. It took quite a while to completely adjust to the changes, but they eventually managed.

Hayami had basically moved into Kino's room. Neither minded much; in a sense it was actually fairly refreshing for them both. Their relationship was still a secret, even from the prying eyes and words of Freeda and Shiro. Both enjoyed the privacy and intimacy of their relationship, and both loved being able to wake up every morning and see each other.

On one such morning, Kino woke several hours before she usually did, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her forehead. Slipping out of Hayami's arms, she crawled, trembling, over his sleeping form and moved to her closet, shivering slightly as the warmth disappeared and a small draft hit her naked form. Pulling out her jumpsuit, she slipped into it, still trembling slightly, and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

A small mumbled curse drew her attention back to the bed.

"Ah, Kino?" Hayami murmured, not bothering to hide the tired drone of his voice.

"Go back to sleep," she said softly, smiling at him. He yawned and sat up, ignoring her command, and struggled with the lack of light.

"What are you doing up?"

She smiled again, though he couldn't see it. "Relax. I'll be back in a minute."

Slipping into her shoes, she pulled open her door and walked out. Hayami watched her leave, still a bit confused. Sighing, he pulled himself out of bed, stumbling over his own feet as he made his way to the closet. He couldn't think of any reason why Kino would have woken up so early. But then again, his mind was so clouded, still fogged from sleep, that he couldn't think very clearly anyway. He would find out, though.

Kino sat on top of Blue Six, seeking comfort with the smell of salt water and the cool ocean breeze. She was still shaken up from her nightmare. It had been a while since she had last woken up like that: terrified, too scared to scream, covered in sweat and occasional blood. At times, the nightmares would get so bad she would tear her own palms open by digging her fingernails into them. Other times it was her arms, and every once in a while her legs.

She sighed and closed her eyes. The sun was just barely beginning to come up. The wind blew gently across her hot forehead as she pulled her legs up to rest her forearms on her knees. She heard footfalls behind her, and knew it was Hayami coming to check up on her. She wondered how long it would take him to find her. It had been almost ten minutes…

Sure enough, Hayami sat down next to her, joining her as she looked out over the ocean. He waited a minute, but she didn't say anything. Sighing, he pulled his hands out of the pockets of his jumpsuit. Reaching out tenderly, he took her hand in his.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, but had to close her eyes as tears began to swell in her eyes. Tilting her head down as a tear slipped down her cheek, she shook her head. She inhaled a deep breath, but instead of calming her, she broke down completely, crying into her knees to muffle the sounds of her sobs.

Not good… Hayami thought to himself as Kino began to sob quietly into her knees, pulling her hand out of his and wrapping her small arms around them and hugging them close to her chest. An angry Kino he could deal with, but crying? Hayami wasn't the most open when it came to emotions, and had no real idea how to handle them in general. He did know, however, that he wasn't about to leave her there crying to herself.

Gently, he placed a hand on her back and one across her shoulder, easing her towards him. To his surprise, she came without a fight, instead latching onto him, crying softly in to the material of his jumpsuit. He held her until her sobs subsided into small, quiet sniffles.

Seeing Kino cry like that surprised Hayami a great deal. Kino had always been a tough one, hardly ever showing a weakness. She never struck him as the crying type. But in truth, he'd been learning a lot about her lately. As she finally began to calm down and pull away, he kept a hand on the small of back: an attempt at being even slightly comforting.

"Liar." He stated, surprising himself with his boldness. She looked up at him, her lips slightly parted, her face stained with the remains of tears. "You're not okay."

She laughed a little, which was a good sign, and relaxed a bit. Sighing, she began to explain, though softly. "I'm sorry. I just… I…" she bit her lip. "I had a bit of a nightmare."

She sighed, and tried to wipe away the tear stains on her cheeks. "Actually, more of a memory… It was horrible, Hayami! Right after the first waves began to cover the cities. Oh god…" she sighed, and swallowed. "There was screaming. A lot of it. And some crying. It was like I was reliving it…

"I saw the tsunami before it hit. My family lived near the ocean. I remember my sister and I were making breakfast. Mom and dad were still asleep. We always got up before them. Well, Koe did. That was my sister's name. Koe. She had to get up before them so that they could leave on time for work. She would let me help her with her morning chores. I always loved it, because it was the one time of day when she was nice to me. Every other time her friends were around, and she was mean. But she never meant it…

"We were making eggs. That was mom's favorite. Dad never liked them much, though. I sat on the counter because I was too small to reach it from the ground. I faced the window. I saw it rise up like that. I pointed it out to Koe. I didn't understand. She looked terrified. Her eyes widened, and she dropped the plate she'd been holding.

"She didn't explain anything, she just grabbed me and pulled me out of the house, running really hard… I couldn't keep up. I stumbled and tripped and cut my feet so many times… she never slowed down. But then, she paused and looked back. I think she must've remembered mom and dad… Whatever the reason, the wave crashed down on us.

"I had never been a good swimmer. And I couldn't see which way was up… I couldn't breath. It was terrifying, I think I got hit on the head, because I woke up a few hours later. I was floating in the middle of nothing, clinging to what was probably a piece of my house. There was water everywhere. Do you know how scary that was?" she looked at Hayami, shuddering at the remembrance of such terrifying events. "I was only nine. To see everything I knew and love just vanish like that…"

"It must've been terrible…" Hayami murmured. He knew now why Kino had been so intent on stopping Zorndyke. She had wanted to not only get revenge for her family, but to prevent the same pain from being shared with others. He sighed gently, and stood up. "Come on. Let's go in. We can still catch a few hours worth of sleep."

As soon as Kino's door was closed, Hayami pulled off his shirt, dropping it to the floor carelessly. Kino picked up said shirt and put it on, pulling off the rest of her clothes and jumping onto the bed, feeling much better after talking with Hayami. Hayami kicked off his shoes with ease, and then turned towards Kino. Who had a sketchpad and pencil in her hands.

He rolled his eyes. "You're drawing me again, aren't you?"

She looked up at him and flushed a bit, before shaking her head profusely, looking a bit like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Nu-uh."

He smirked. "Yes, you are. Lemme see." He tackled her to the bed, and she pulled the sketchbook out of his reach, as his hands were busy trying to stop her from moving. She laughed as he attempted to grab it out of her hands, his hands brushing her stomach every so often to still her movements. After a few minutes of wrestling with her, Hayami was finally able to pin her beneath him and snatched the sketchbook away, crawling off of her and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He looked over the picture she had sketched out, and while it wasn't done, he could tell what it was even though it had just been started. She had drawn him comforting her.

She crawled up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a soft kiss to his temple and then resting her chin on his shoulder, looking at the picture. He smirked, before reaching under the bed and pulling out her folder. Placing the pad inside, he closed it and slid back into it place. Turning a bit, he grabbed Kino by the waist and pulled her over, satisfied when he felt her slide onto his lap with a small cry if surprise. Placing a soft but meaningful kiss onto her lips, he gently pulled her down so that they were both lying down. Getting comfortable easily, Hayami slid his arm around her small waist and relaxed, soon alseep.

Kino woke several hours later, rubbing her eyes. This time, however, it wasn't from a nightmare. She yawned and checked the clock. It read eleven thirty. She had a half hour to meet Shiro and Freeda. The two had, after briefly going through Kino's closet, decided that she needed more clothes, and were going to drag her around town shopping.

Kino groaned at having to get, but did, once again untangling herself from Hayami. He mumbled some random protest, and opened his eyes slowly. He blinked at her in confusion as stalked out of the bed. Turning back, she smiled, showing she was fine.

"What is it this time?" Hayami asked, sitting up and forgetting and possibility of sleep. Kino put on her jumpsuit, sliding off his shirt and tossing it to him. He caught it with ease, before dropping onto the bed beside him.

"I'm stuck on a shopping craze with Shiro and Freeda." Putting on her boots, and flashed him a smirk. "I'll be back by midnight… hopefully…"

He chuckled, knowing that with Freeda and Shiro, it was a possibility. Kino stumbled into the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, yawning.

She emerged a few moments later. Walking over to Hayami, she leaned over and captured his lips, before leaving the room. Hayami chuckled. She tasted like mints.

After another ten minutes of laying around doing nothing, Hayami pulled himself out of the bed. He would find something to do. Maybe Iga had some work that needed to be done.

"Ohhh… maybe this one?"

"No, no. I stopped by there yesterday. Nothing would fit her. It would all be huge on her."

"You sure?"

"It didn't even fit me!"

"Okay then… what about here?"

Kino sighed. They had left Blue Six for the Osaka shopping district almost an hour ago, and had yet to do any shopping. This was mostly due to the fact that Freeda and Shiro couldn't decide on a place to go. They had picked up a map of the district, and were currently arguing about it over smoothies.

"You know…" Shiro stated, pausing to take a sip of Strawberry smoothie. "I heard Osaka has some of the best Thrift Stores around."

Kino blinked. "What's a Thrift Store?"

Shiro choked on her smoothie, while Freeda gasped in horror.

"You're kidding, right?" Freeda stated, patting Shiro on the back as she coughed.

Kino simply shook her head. She didn't know much about shopping. She hadn't ever seen a need to do so. So right now, she was at the mercy of Freeda and Shiro. Said two simply looked at each other.

"That's where we start." They chorused, nodding at each other.

Kino could only look on in fear.

Hayami sighed, lifting his head from his cereal long enough to glare at the chattering girl sitting before him, before dropping it back to face the now soggy breakfast. He couldn't believe he had gotten desperate enough to agree to watch Howan alone! He had taken the girl to the cafeteria and had Tsuji simply give him the cereal and milk.

Howan hadn't quite talking since they left her room. She had switched topics faster than Hayami could think possible. The 'conversation' had started on what Kino was doing and where she was. She was currently babbling on about Christmas Trees.

How on Earth did she manage to change to that topic in less than five minutes? Hayami thought to himself, right before groaning. Howan was still talking.

Kino groaned as she was shoved into the dressing room again. She suddenly knew she hated Thrift Stores. Freeda and Shiro had yet to find something they didn't want her to try on. Every time she stepped out of the dressing room, they were standing there with four other outfits, minimum.

Kino sighed as Shiro began to argue with Freeda about one specific outfit. She suddenly felt very stupid for ever thinking Verg was scary. This was scarier. Blue Six should've just sent Freeda and Shiro out to take Zorndyke shopping, and the nutcase would've cracked in seconds. Instant solution.

Two new outfits were shoved into the room with her then. She groaned.

Would the torture never end?

"Hey Kino?"

"Yes?"

"After you try that on, we're gonna head back to Blue Six."

When Hayami returned to Kino's room several hours later, he heard the familiar sound of water running. Kino had obviously returned early from her shopping adventure with Freeda and Shiro and had decided to take a quick run under the water. He sighed, glad that she was back. He had missed her, despite the fact that it had only been a few hours.

A thought crossed his mind as he crossed the room to sit on her bed. He thought about it for a moment, before quickly discarding his shirt and making his way towards the bathroom. He needed a shower anyway.

When he opened the door, soundlessly, a blast of steam struck him. He knew that Kino enjoyed her showers hot. So it didn't surprise him when he saw that the mirror was so covered by fog that he couldn't even make out shapes or colors. Kino was singing to herself softly, and Hayami took a moment to listen, closing the door just as quietly as when he had opened it.

Kino had a wonderful voice, but was incredibly shy and self-conscious at times. The only times Hayami got to hear her sing was when she thought she was alone. Listening now, he felt a small smile tug at his lips as her soft soprano voice traveled over the soft drizzle and patter of water against the tile floor.

"I recall

The voice of the sea

Whispering softly

Crying to me

And I can feel

The waves rolling back

Back to the comfort

Of forever…"

She had sung this song before. It was very familiar to Hayami. But he never got the chance to ask her about it; because he didn't want her to find out he'd been listening to her all this time. And if she found out, she would probably stop singing. He really didn't want that.

He could recall several times he had stayed up late, when she usually took her showers thinking he was asleep, just to listen to her. He wondered briefly what she would do if she knew…

Quickly discarding the rest of his clothes, silently, he took a peek into the shower. Her back was to him, and to top it off, her eyes were closed. He smirked; this would be too easy. Stepping into the shower, he shuddered briefly at the sudden rush of heat. He took a step towards her, and then grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her around to face him. She gasped, looking up at him in surprise. Relaxing as she recognized his face, she smiled, looking up at him.

"I missed you." She said softly as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist.

He chuckled. "You were only gone a few hours."

She shrugged, resting her head on his chest, smiling. "Yeah. A long few hours."

He smirked, and then reached down, tilting her head up gently. "Then maybe I should make that up to you."

He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. It took only seconds before the kiss deepened. With ease, and little resistance on Kino's part, Hayami pinned her against the wall of the small shower stall, trailing small kisses across her jaw line and down her neck. His hands held her hips in place, firmly but still gentle. Her arms snaked their way around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair.

Slipping one hand down her thigh, he hooked her knee and pulled it against his hip, lifting her free foot off the ground and balancing her between his body and the wall. The kiss grew quicker, barely lingering long enough to taste their partner's flesh. Hayami lifted his head up to meet her lips, tracing his tongue along her lower lip, asking for access. She gave it to him without hesitation, matching his sudden wanting. His sudden passion.

With her safely and effectively pinned, Hayami slid him hand back up to her waist, his lips never leaving hers. He grinned slightly; this was going to be a very long shower.

Author's Notes: Yay! That ended right where I wanted it to! Yippie! I'm glad I finally got this chapter out. Trust me, next week chapters'll be quicker. Much quicker. I'm just really busy this week.

And yay for Chshr for finally reviewing again! I was beginning to think you weren't reading!

Please Review! Makes me love you all so much! (Not that I didn't love you before!)

Graywords-girl♥