Chapter ten

Kino decided rather quickly that she liked showers. Especially when they included a certain dark-haired man whom she was currently laying next to. He was awake as well, she knew, but they were both comfortable, and neither saw any reason to speak at the moment. With her sheets pulled up to her chin, and with the added bonus of having Hayami's arms around her, she felt quite content and warm.

She shifted slightly; beginning to fidget, and he tighten his grip on her. She loved being able to sleep with him like this: naked, content, and comfortably held against him, but she had never done well with lack of movement. She didn't like just sitting around doing nothing. It drove her crazy.

He seemed to sense her restlessness, as he loosened his grip slightly, giving her more room to move. She began to amuse herself by drawing small, circular patterns on his chest. Gently running her fingers over his warm flesh, she felt the way his chest moved with every breath. After a moment, his hand came up and caught hers, stilling her movements. He chuckled slightly.

"I figured you'd be tired after our shower…" he stated, his voice rumbling in Kino's ears. She shrugged, her shoulder jolting his arm, which was wrapped around her. She sat up, stretching her muscles, the sheet falling down to her waist. He grinned up at her, reaching up and pulling her back to him, catching her lips with his.

She chuckled and pulled away, watching his with an amused expression. "I thought you'd be tired. After all, you did most of the work…" she added slyly, propping her self up on her forearms, looking over him with a soft smile. He smirked, running his hand up along her waist. She shivered at his touch, enjoying the attention.

Pulling away, she reached under the bed and pulled out her folder. Hayami groaned and pulled his pillow out from under his head, burying his face into its fabric, hiding his face from her.

She giggled as she pulled out her pad. "If you're not careful, I'll draw you like that and then post it in the middle of the cafeteria for everyone to see. I'm sure all the girls would enjoy the view of you without a shirt…"

"You'd piss Tsuji off." He stated, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"So?"

"Are you in the mood to miss your dinner for the next month? 'Cause let me tell you, I'm not going to get it for you."

She laughed, before yanking the pillow away from him. He groaned again.

"Can't we just lay here and entertain ourselves?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Kino rolled her eyes.

"You're idea of entertainment and mine are very different."

"Really?"

She paused for a minute, before tossing her sketchpad to the side and leaning down, kissing him. "Okay, maybe not so different." He chuckled, savoring the feel of her mouth against his for a brief moment before pulling away. Grabbing her by the waist, he gave her a small yank and pulled her back onto the bed beside him, not quite ready to get up completely. She chuckled, before beginning to squirm slightly.

"Come on! Let's go do something."

He groaned again, a habit he was quickly developing, but didn't say anything. He couldn't understand why she was so restless. He was quite content to lie there and do nothing. Kino was usually asleep at this point. Where on Earth was she getting her energy from? She was beginning to fidget again, and was obviously getting bored.

"Are you going to do this every night?" he asked, watching as she shrugged.

"Probably not."

"So what makes today different?"

She shrugged again, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. Staring soon turned to counting as she began to tally the number of odd speckles on her ceiling. "I'm not used to being so inactive this late. I usually run off of caffeine until sometime around two in the morning. Then, Tsuji would refuse to give me any more, so instead I made due with tea and twenty pounds of sugar…"

He raised an eyebrow. "And all these years I thought I was an insomniac…"

"I slept sometimes…"

"Like…?"

"Ahh…. Once every two, three days maybe? I could get a good three hours if I was really tired…"

She sighed and sat up again, pulling her knees up to her chest. Casting a glance down at him, she doodled a random pattern on her leg and thought for a moment. Hayami sighed. He wasn't going to be able to sleep if she kept fidgeting. So what could he do to wear off her energy? Several thoughts passed through his mind, most of which were rather appealing, but he knew that he should press her.

Sitting up, he continued to watch her. She had gotten quiet. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice him reach back and grab the pillow. He waited a moment, to see if she would react, but she didn't. Pulling back the pillow, he flung it forward, hitting her in the back of the head as a loud THWACK mixed in with her yell of surprise, causing her to tumble forward from the force of the impact.

She landed on her stomach, eyes wide in surprise. Turning back to glare at him, she pulled herself up. "What did you do that for!"

He shrugged, chuckling to himself as she reached over and snatched the pillow from him, glaring hard.

"Jerk." She muttered under her breath, crossing her arms.

"Thanks." He stated, and she rolled her eyes at him. He only smirked at her. Thinking for a moment, Kino hopped off the bed and grabbed a random outfit from her closet, leaving Hayami sitting on the bed, watching her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm going for a walk." She stated, slipping into her clothes. She walked out, tying the laces of her boots as she walked. He watched her leave, chuckling as he heard her curse slightly as she tripped over her own feet. He waited a few moments, before sitting up and changing quickly.

The park was nice at night, when it wasn't crowded. There weren't dozens of people running around screaming at the top of their lungs in joy. No one was out. A few lights, coming from the newly built lamps, illuminated the dirt path that Kino and Hayami followed, but other than that, it was empty. The bugs were still that night, and the birds had already fallen asleep.

They walked side by side. Hayami kept his hands shoved in his pockets; while Kino allowed hers to swings ever so slightly at her sides with each step she took. She didn't cling to him, as many girls might have done. No, she was braver than that. She didn't seek protection from the night; she faced it. Hayami respected that in her; true individuality.

Hayami was content to just walk. Kino was observing everything. After a moment she spoke.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

He didn't respond. She knew he wouldn't. She simply continued. "So much has been rebuilt… people are starting to come out from hiding… starting to pull together to recreate what was lost…"

"Isn't that what Operation Blue was about?"

He didn't look at her as he said this. He kept his eyes forward.

She bit her lip, thinking of her response. "Not really. Sure, every country still remaining did help, but that didn't hide the suspicions, distrust… Every country blamed another for what was happening in the world. It was just one large ring of hateful words and pointing fingers." She chuckled a bit. "You should see what happens in the United Nations now…

"They argue, they shout, they scream. Never willing to agree on one topic, always finding some reason or another to blame someone else for. It really is pretty funny."

"How is that funny?" he asked, glancing at her in the corner of his eye.

She shrugged. "My mother used to tell me that the United Nations had once been a place of peace. Not a place to torment, attack, or injure some representative from another country. That's what happens now, though. A lot of people are worried that a full-scale world war is going to break out. Not like the one that took place in the European Countries. The whole world.

"Can you imagine that? Every country at war with another? It's terrifying…"

She chuckled again. "And terribly ironic."

She stopped walking, and after he had traveled a few paces ahead, Hayami stopped as well, glancing at her curiously. She had her head tilted down, and he couldn't see her eyes very well.

"I can't believe that this is what the world's been reduced to… Even after all the things we've been through, we're still at each other's throats…" she murmured, struggling to keep her voice even.

"What did you expect?" Hayami asked, his hands clenching the fabric of his pockets as he watched her struggle. "People can't be reasoned with. They're too set in their ways."

He sighed; it was his turn to talk. "When you first came to get me, you know what I saw?" She shook her head. "I saw a child. A child with simplistic views on the way the world worked. It was black and white for you then. No shades of gray, no degrees of good or evil. Just one or the other."

He walked over to her and gently cupped her face with his hand, lifting it gently, forcing her to look at him. "You're not like that anymore. I watched you change. You had the opportunity to get what you wanted back there: you had the chance to kill the man that caused all this. The child I met at the very beginning of all this would have done it in an instant. You didn't pull the trigger."

She bit her lip. "You stopped me."

He shook his head. "I just nudged you in the right direction." He released her. Rummaging in his pockets, he pulled out a cigarette and held it between his lips, grabbing for his lighter. She made a face at his terrible habit, but didn't say anything.

"People aren't going to change in a few weeks. It'll take time for them to learn to trust again."

She nodded, just as a loud booming noise sounded from around them. Kino jumped at it and looked to the sky just as it started to rain. A quick shower quickly turned into pouring as the water came faster and harder. She didn't flinch, however, nor turn away. She smiled. She hadn't seen rain in months. Every storm that had occurred for her, she had been stuck under the water. She hadn't been able to see it in quite awhile.

She was getting soaked, she knew. Hayami was watching her with smile. He had dropped his cigarette in surprise at the first crash of thunder, and it was basically useless to try and recover it now. After a minute, he reached out and gave her sleeve a quick tug to get her attention. Jerking his head in a random direction, he pulled her away quickly.

They made a quick run for shelter as the rain got even worse and the lightning cracks and thunder clashes began to overlap. They found a quick refuge under the canopy of a small flower shop. On both sides of the flower shop were house, and Kino was wondering if she should ask if they could wait out the storm in one of the homes.

She wouldn't have to, as the door of one of the homes opened and a woman in her late thirties peeked out, catching sight of the two of them huddle under the canopy. She pursed her lips, but motioned for them to come over.

"Hurry up and come inside!" she called as Kino and Hayami made a quick run towards the house, jumping the up the small series of stairs that led to the entrance.

Going inside, the woman quickly ushered them towards the living room, where a fire was lit and offered a bit of warmth. A little girl sat beside it, watching the flames intently. She glanced up as the two strangers emerged from the hallway, blinking at them curiously.

"Wait right here and I'll get you two a change of clothes. You're going to catch your death in those outfits." The woman stated, before turning to the little girl. "Kioko, get them some hot chocolate."

The woman then disappeared up a large staircase. The little girl, Kioko, stood up and motioned for them to take seats by the fire. She then turned and walked through a doorway. After a moment, the woman came back down the stairs, her arms full of clothes.

"Come on. You two can change upstairs while your drinks are being made."

They followed her up the stairs, and emerged in a long hallway with several doors. Hayami was promptly shoved into a room with a set of clothes, and the woman then escorted Kino into another. Sorting though a few shirts, she handed one to Kino, and then a pair of sweat pants and socks.

"I'm not sure if any of these will fit you," she said, looking at Kino. Kino was, indeed, several inches shorter than the woman. Motioning to a screen that had been set up, she allowed Kino to change behind it as she waited. The clothes were large, and the shirt alone came down to above her knees.

The woman then offered a towel to Kino, who took it and began to dry her hair, which seemed to absorb water well enough to soak her all over again.

"Thank you for all this, miss…" Kino stated, smiling at the older woman.

"Asakawa. Yuki Asakawa," the woman provided. "And it's no problem. I couldn't very well let you two stay out there with it raining like this."

Kino nodded. "I'm Mayumi Kino. And the man I came in with is Hayami."

"Pleasure to meet you. We should head back downstairs now."

She led Kino down the stairs and back to the living room, where Kioko and Hayami were waiting. Kioko was watching Hayami intently, and had somehow provoked a staring contest between the two of them. From the looks of it, neither was winning.

Kioko suddenly broke eye contact with Hayami and looked at Kino, blinking. Looking the older girl up and down, her vision came to rest on her feet.

"Those are my socks." The little girl said, cocking her head to the side. Kino looked down in confusion. The socks were fairly large, and the girl had relatively small feet. Yuki took pity on her quickly and explained.

"For the winter, we get her large socks. They tend to be warmer."

"Oh," Kino murmured. Hayami motioned her to come sit beside him, and she came willingly, sitting close enough that their shoulders bumped. Kioko handed her a warm mug filled with a dark, swirling drink; hot chocolate. Kino couldn't remember the last time she had tasted any type of warm drink other than coffee.

Kioko sat down in front of the two, her legs folded under her gracefully in a typical Japanese manner. Hayami was sitting with his legs crossed, and Kino was sitting at a bit of an angle, almost leaning against Hayami, her legs crossing delicately at the ankles against the soft carpet.

"Are you two married?"

Kino choked on her drink, her eyes widening. Hayami coughed, and Kino thought she saw a faint trace of a blush on his face. Yuki fought back laughter.

"You'll have to excuse her. She's very… forward."

"So I noticed…" Hayami muttered under his breath, before Kino elbowed him in the gut, hushing him.

Kioko, however, was too young to understand their answer via physical response, and was waiting not so patiently for an answer. After not receiving one for several seconds, she repeated the question.

"Ah, no." Kino stated, swallowing another gulp from her mug.

"Is he your brother?"

"No."

"Step-brother?"

"No."

The little girl paused. After a moment, she spoke again. "Father?"

Kino gasped, almost dropping her now-empty mug. Hayami almost spit out the sip he had taken a few seconds earlier. Yuki called out to her daughter in surprise.

"Kioko! Don't be rude!"

Kioko looked up at her mother innocently. "But I just want to know how they know each other!"

Yuki placed a hand on her daughter's head and hushed her. "That's none of your business. Beside, it's time to get ready for bed."

The little girl groaned, but stood and made a run for the stairs. Kino and Hayami watched her go, before setting their vision back on Yuki. She smiled at them.

"I have to go tuck her in. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She left, traveling up the stairs and opening a door. Another thunder clash rang out, and Kino yelped in surprise, grabbing onto Hayami's arm. Up stairs, Kioko screamed, and they could hear Yuki struggling to soothe her daughter. Hayami was lost in his own thoughts, and barely registered Kino inching closer to him.

His thoughts were traveling to what was going to happen in almost a week: the party that had been set up for Blue Fleet. Hayami didn't do well when it came to big get-togethers. He tended to avoid them. Social Situations weren't his specialty. And there was another problem: Kino. They had decided to keep their relationship secret, but the party would prove difficult. He would have a hard time keeping an eye on her without looking suspicious. Not that he didn't trust Kino; he trusted her more than he had ever trusted a person. It was more of a possessive thing. She was his, and he didn't like other people he didn't know, specifically guys he didn't know, hanging around her too much.

At least not without him there. He had always been possessive over things, or people, he cared about.

Kino had noticed the fact that he wasn't paying attention to her, and, despite her panicky state, it irritated her a bit. Another, rather loud crash of thunder overlapping with a lightning strike caused her jump in surprise, simultaneously dragging Hayami out of his thoughts. She really hoped the storm would end soon…

He looked at her as she watched a near by window nervously. "I never figured you were one to get scared at a storm."

"Hey! It's not my fault they make me nervous…" she bit her lip. "I hate the thunder."

He chuckled, and she glared.

"Look, I've always been scared of it, okay?"

He nodded and gently wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her waist. She sighed and laid her head against his chest. Getting comfortable, she thought to herself. Maybe the storm could last a little longer…

Author's notes: Oh, guys I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I really am. I don't know why, but I was having trouble with this chapter. I couldn't get it to flow too well. Still no plot XD

And to my beloved Imouto-chan: Thank you for reviewing! I know what you mean… the story is kind of border lining between PG13 and R…. (I'm still using the old rating system, because I can't get used to the new one).

What do you guys think? Should I up the rating?

Please Review, or else you'll never know what happens to Kino and Hayami! (Cue evil, maniacal laughter)

Graywords-girl♥