Chapter Twelve

"What the hell were you thinking!"

Kino winced at the loud volume of Iga's voice as several people in the near-by corridor jumped in surprise, one of which consequently dropping the large stack of papers he had been carrying. There was already a large crowd gathering around the open door to the infirmary. Iga waved a report he had received not two minutes earlier in Kino's face while continuing his rampage.

"Sir, please, could you lower your voice?" she requested feebly, before hissing in pain as Shiro dabbed the gash on her forehead with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. The gash had yet to stop bleeding, and while it wasn't that serious, a few of the nurses offered their opinions, one of which stating she may need stitches.

Kino was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, cross-legged, as Shiro leaned over her and carefully tended to her small wounds as a mother would. One nurse had approached Kino as soon as she had been deemed injured enough to need care, but had retreated quickly when Shiro snapped at her. Iga paced the roomed in a frenzy, not bothering to hide his frustration. Hayami leaned against a near wall, his arms crossed over his chest, watching the scenes play out before him with amusement.

"No, I will not lower my voice! Honestly Kino! What has gotten in to you?" it surprised Kino, as well as everyone else, to see they're commanding officer drop all logic and through a fit. One who looked almost crazy at this point had replaced the usually calm man they had all grown accustomed to. Iga stopped wearing a hole in the floor long enough to flip through the long report, his eyes darting through the words. "Assaulting an officer! Damaging equipment! The list goes on!"

Kino winced again, but said nothing, her eyes falling to watch her pale hands as they tightly clutched the fabric of her pants. Shiro paused briefly, her eyes, which had previously been narrowed in hard concentration, softening at the young girl before her. Gently, she laid one of her hands against Kino's trembling fingers, easing the grip they had. Kino sent her a quick look, her eyes, despite the distinct glitter of tears, showing her gratefulness. Shiro knew, as well as everyone else on the boat, that it was hard for Kino to take this type of verbal abuse.

Iga slowly took a calming, shaky breath; his shoulders, which had been hunched over as he had stomped around the room, falling. He sighed. "Kino, I love you like a daughter, but this was too much. I'm putting you on three days' suspension."

Kino's hands once again resumed they're death grip on her pants, her head titled forward so her eyes were hidden. The last thing she needed was people seeing like this.

Iga turned to leave, his footfalls heavy against the metal floor. He paused at the door, his hand resting on the cool metal doorframe. "And by the way, you've got one helluva right hook." He called to her, before pushing his way through the crowd. A few minutes passed, before Shidora, who was apparently part of the crowd, began to push the crowd away, and it slowly dissipated.

Shiro finished patching Kino up, placing a few butterfly stitches across the wound, and then grabbed a marker. Titling Kino's head up, she drew a smiley face on one of the stitches, and then capped her marker. Kino chuckled, and Shiro gave her a quick pat on the back before turning to leave. She waved, and then pulled the door to the infirmary closed.

It was then that Kino noticed the amused look on Hayami's face. Glaring, she grabbed a near-by pillow and tossed it at him. "What are you smiling at?" He caught the pillow with ease and tossed it back at her. Feeling drained, Kino made no attempt to catch it, and it bounced off her head and landed on the floor beside the bed.

It was then that Hayami pushed himself off the wall and made his way over to the bed, taking a seat at the foot of it as Kino stretched out, yawning. She gave him a swift kick when he didn't move over so she could uncurl her legs, and he simply chuckled. Glaring at him, she shrugged and propped her legs in his lap, not in the mood to argue.

"So," he murmured, beginning to rub her feet absentmindedly, "what possessed you to attack Alessandro like that?"

She cracked an eye open, hoping he would drop the subject if she gave him her most pathetic look. He simply stared back, obviously not willing to give up. She sighed, and closed her eyes again.

"I'm not entirely sure…" she said truthfully, feeling a small headache coming on. "When Freeda told me what happened… I dunno, I just lost it."

He watched her as she winced slightly, not at all enjoying the bright lights shining down overhead. They weren't helping her head, and she felt blinded by them. She giggled slightly and fidgeted as his fingers brushed one of her more ticklish spots, and he grinned.

"What exactly did he do?" he asked, referring to Alessandro.

"He canceled the engagement."

He raised an eyebrow in question, watching her with a curious expression. "Kino, people do that all the time, it's not that unheard of."

She sent him a glare before continuing. "He canceled the engagement because he found someone else."

She sat up slightly and looked at the floor, watching the metal glint slightly in the light. Usually the cool gray metals of the walls were dark, dank, and lackluster, their actual appearance hidden by the horrid lighting. In the bright fluorescent lights of the infirmary, however, they shimmered slightly and held an almost entrancing appearance.

"I don't what came over me." She said with a sigh, not taking her gaze from the floor. "It's just… you should have seen her, Hayami! She was miserable. After she told us what happened, she broke down. I couldn't stand to see her like that…"

Hayami silenced her then, shifting his weight so that he had pinned her beneath him. She didn't struggle, but she didn't seem to accept it either. Her eyes glimmered slightly as she looked up at him. She was in pain, although it confused Hayami as to why. Could she really be that close to Freeda? It had be something else… something deeper.

He gently laid a hand on her forehead, gently caressing her skin softly with his own rough hand. She bit her lower lip while she looked at him, and then, without warning, wrapped her arms around his waist and let out a strangled sob. It startled him, but it took only a moment before he carefully wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his back, soothingly rubbing her back as she let out whatever she had to.

It took another forty-five minutes for Kino to finally relax. At this point, she was content, curled up beside Hayami with her head resting on his chest. She really didn't want to talk, but she could feel his eyes watching her carefully, and knew he deserved some sort of explanation. It wasn't everyday she broke down into tears, after all… A small smile crossed her lips as she thought about it. This was the third time she had cried in his presence. And each of the times, he had held her. It was surprising for her. When she had first met him, she had almost instantly pegged him as one of those "No-emotion" types; the type of person that would sneer at any type of emotional reaction.

But now, as she thought about it, she realized her had never been so wrong. He had never faulted her for entwining her heart with every thing she did. Other people had. Her entire time on Blue Six she had dealt with people constantly saying, "You shouldn't get too involved, Kino." or "Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment, Kino.". He had never mentioned it. He had simply accepted it.

The thought only seemed to draw her closer to him.

She sighed. He was still watching her. Still waiting for an answer to a question he hadn't asked. It wasn't something she wanted to discuss, but she knew she would have to talk about it sooner or later.

"I was engaged once," she murmured, not moving. He turned his head and pressed his lips to her forehead, making a soft sound of acknowledgement and question. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "A year ago. He was another Granpus at the time. One of the first people I had met. We'd been seeing each other for a few months before he'd asked me. Blue Six was preparing to head out to one of the hot spots of the war, and there was a good chance we weren't going to make it back… so I suppose he'd figured he wouldn't have another chance…"

Hayami remember reading that event in the paper. During the last fight in the battle, one of the mini-subs had been hit and exploded within seconds. The two pilots inside had been killed almost instantly.

Kino continued her story, talking slowly and carefully choosing her words. "He broke off the engagement a week after we entered the battle. He died out there two weeks later… It was only at the funeral that was held for those lost in battle that I found out why he broke it off." She paused, trying to clear her mind as she thought of the events, feeling a fresh sting of tears in her eyes. "He had been… involved with someone else. At some point, I imagine right before he broke it off; they learned that she was pregnant."

She looked up him, and he could see the pain in her eyes. It still hurt for her. He could understand that. "The entire time we'd been together, he'd been fooling around with someone else. I was so angry… I still am. I suppose hearing about what happened to Freeda just… reminded me of it all."

He nodded, sitting up slightly and giving her more room to sit. She smiled at him; it felt good to talk about it. She hadn't spoken of it to anyone; not even Shiro. Okay, especially not Shiro. It was a well-known fact that Shiro was the cause for a good majority of the rumors and gossip flying around Blue Six.

Both move apart almost instantly at the sound of the door to the infirmary opening. The sight of a pair of bouncing blonde pigtails, however, caused them both to relax. Howan climbed up onto the bed quickly, her bear clutched tightly in her arms. Settling down sitting between Hayami and Kino, she gently brought up her free hand to grab a handful of Kino's shirt.

"You're okay?"

Kino nodded gently as the soft question, carefully shifting to ease some slight discomfort their position was causing. "Yeah. I'm okay."

Howan nodded and released Kino's shirt, confident she had their full attention. "I heard you beat up Alessandro. Yuri said that it was…" the little girl paused, trying to recall the older man's exact words. "'A stupid move that showed she has no self control.'"

Kino fought the urge to snort. Of course Yuri would say something like that. That man was arrogance incarnate. It wasn't surprising he would find some way to torment her, even if it meant furthering a sense of guilt already possessed.

"I think he was just grumpy, though." Kino laughed at that. Howan could be so sweet some times, even if she didn't even try to do so. Hayami chuckled as well. Kino could think of a few things she could say to that, but most of which weren't very appropriate for a child to hear. Howan continued. "Freeda says that someday some one's going to give him a swift kick in a very uncomfortable place…"

Hayami started laughing as Kino chocked on her air, her eyes wide. Howan looked at them innocently, not understanding what was wrong. "What?"

Kino shook her head. I'm gonna have to talk to Freeda about that…

Author's Notes: Ooh, sorry it took so long to get this out. And sorry it's so short. I figured something was better than nothing, right? Ah, don't worry! I haven't forgotten you all! I'm just getting slow, that's all. This chapter was hard to get out, I'm afraid. And a bit annoying. I couldn't figure where to end it.

Either way, I did it! And to Imouto: Don't kill me! It's out, it's out!

Please Review!

Graywords-girl♥