A/N: Hey and welcome back to The Dragon and the Marlin!

Have fun reading and I hope you'll enjoy it, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs.

Chapter 4 – What you mean to me

Kuromi walked in silence and wandered around until she came upon a back alley.

"Long time no see, my darling." A voice called out to her.

Shivers went down her spine, and she internally groaned, because only one person in the world called her that, "Saber." Kuromi answered coldly.

The girl looked over to see a tall, lanky guy with spiky blue hair and beady green eyes, "Aw, how cold, you are not even using my name."

That boy was Taiga, a tall boy with navy blue hair and gorgeous emerald green eyes. He was an ex-member of the Tatsukiba, now leader of their rivaling group; the Torakiba. They got along during elementary school; that was until their former leader got into an accident, which he blamed her for and became bitter enemies.

"Are we really going through this again? When do you plan on letting go already?" She said annoyed.

"We'll always go through this, until you pay for what you have done." He growled.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? What do you want me to do, beg for your forgiveness? That won't change anything; you know that as well as I do."

He smirked and walked closer to the other gang leader, "Oh, I am so glad you ask, my sweet."

"What are you-"

She looked around and immediately tried to get out of the alley, but was cut off by a group of guys. She wasn't surprised, Taiga never went anywhere without his lackeys, who didn't have 5 IQ points between them.

He grabbed her wrist and looked at her wildly, "You are not leaving."

"Get your hand off me!" she yelled angrily as she smacked away Taiga's hand.

"Tch, have it your way then. Have fun boys!" the blue-haired boy roared.

The odds were pretty bad; there were about six guys, who had a knack for injuring people very easily and without effort. Kuromi fought valiantly, but there were just too many to take on her own. One of them caught her off-guard and got a couple hits to her ribs with a baseball bat. The red-eyed girl fell to the ground clutching her upper body in pain.

Taiga looked at her, kneeling down and whispered into her ear, "You have gotten weak, my love. Let's get out of here."

"But boss, can we really leave her here like that?" one of the goons asked him.

"Of course, that's only the beginning of the despair that awaits her," Saber said bitterly walking without turning around.

When all of them left she looked to her side, where her phone was. It must have fallen out of her pocket during the fight. "Damn, I need to reach Shiro." Kuromi said in a low voice, trying to grasp it. She needed treatment and fast.

Meanwhile...

Asahi waited for a long time in the park, where he was supposed to meet with Kuromi, but the girl never showed up. "She wanted to be here a while ago, did she dump me after all?" he shook his head at this thought, "No, she wouldn't. She gave me her word, so something must have happened. I should retrace my steps and see if I run into her." The boy decided standing up from the bench he was sitting on and started walking back. He didn't even need to go that far to see a figure lying on the ground, upon seeing that Asahi immediately ran over. He looked at her eyes lose light, "Somebody, please help!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, but nobody answered.

She closed her eyes in anticipation of passing out, but the boy shook her to keep her awake, instead she opened them again to see him propping her up and holding her in his arms, "What happened here?" he asked with a panicked voice.

"We don't have time for that, Asahi Shiina," she said weakly, pointing at the ground where her phone was. "If you really want to help give it to me and take me where I tell you to."

Asahi took her phone and handed it to her. She quickly typed a message and turned back to the boy. "I'm done. Help me up, I'll lead the way."

He didn't hesitate any longer as he swung her arms over his shoulder, placed a hand underneath her legs, and picked her up. It pained him to see her hurting so badly, but the questions would have to wait.

As soon as they got to Shiro's house, Kuromi was given pain medicine and her wounds got treated. Asahi seated himself on a chair outside next to the door, while he waited.

"Your ribs aren't broken they're just bruised, but that in itself is very painful, so you'll need some medicine for the pain and a lot of rest. Here, the instructions say to take one tonight." She said handing her a pill.

"Alright, thanks for taking me in on such short notice, white." Kuromi said swallowing the medicine, while looking up at her friend.

"That's what I'm here for, aren't I? We are talking about this tomorrow, though. I want to hear everything and I won't take no for an answer, got it?" Shiro tried her best to sound strict, but that only opened another occasion for Kuromi to tease her.

"My, my did I miss something, and we somehow switched roles? I was so sure that out of the two of us I was the boss." The young leader joked, not resisting the urge to vex the white-haired girl. However, when she laughed, she felt a sharp pain in her chest.

"You know what, you deserve that!" Shiro told her, as she finished putting on her bandages. "By the way your boyfriend, who's been peeking at the door wants to see you."

The boy turned as red as his hair upon hearing that comment, primarily because he really didn't see anything except a short glance at her bare back.

"My boyfriend?" Kuromi asked confused.

The other girl sighed, "Yes, he has been waiting for me to finish." She said standing up and opening the door.

She looked where Shiro was standing, and saw Asahi silently coming in, since it was already late.

"I must ask you to hurry with whatever you want to say, boss needs her sleep," Shiro approached the boy and whispered the rest. "By the way if you want to peek on one of us without getting caught, you have to try better than that."

"R-Right, I didn't see anything though!" Asahi responded visibly flustered. The white-haired girl left the room, closing the door behind her, satisfied with his answer.

Kuromi sat up as he came in; he seemed relieved as soon as he saw her.

Asahi situated himself on the bed before leaning in and completely engulfing Kuromi's head in his chest, "I'm so glad you're okay, black dragon." He muttered, resting his chin on her head.

"How did you even find me?" she asked him, thankful that he couldn't see her blushing face in that position.

He let her go, so he could look her in the eyes, "I was really worried that you were so late, so I went searching for you and I'm glad, I did."

"I see, that makes sense. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to drag you into this." The girl said regretfully.

He smiled warmly, "It's okay, I practically dragged myself into it."

She frowned, "That I know, but still I owe you my thanks. You saved my life back there; I am in your debt Asahi Shiina."

The redhead shook his head, "I only did what was right, especially when..."

The "blonde" raised an eyebrow, "Especially when, what?"

The boy took a deep breath, before going on, "I'm leaving town again soon, so this is basically farewell. That's another thing I felt the need to tell you and," he led his hands to his neck, taking off a necklace Kuromi didn't even remember him wearing, "I want you to have this." He finished, giving it to the girl in front of him, who stretched out her palm to have a better look at it.

The necklace had a vintage styled compass pendant on an antiqued brass chain. There was a map printed on the back of it with a quote in the middle, which said: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Up until now nearly all of his actions regarding her only led to confusion, but this one took the cake and strangely enough she found herself being, one dare say happy about him being so attentive. At times like these her own feelings amazed her. How could a simple boy make her tremble so much inside and wake up feelings she didn't think she could ever feel?

"Why are you giving me this? It seems like it has a lot of meaning to you." Kuromi asked him, moving her hand towards him to give it back.

What she didn't know was that Asahi himself felt conflicted about his feelings for her. Ever since the day the girl rescued him, he couldn't stop thinking about her, hence why he risked so much just to see her again for the last time. No, that wasn't right. He needed to see her and it only seemed fitting to entrust her with his most precious possession.

"It sure does," he told her, pushing her hand back and closing it with his without letting go. "But so do you and it's the least I can do to repay you for what you've done for me."

If it were up to her, all of the blame for what she did next would be on the painkillers she took. "That's fine, but I guess it's my turn now, come closer." She said patting the spot on the bed right next to her. Asahi blinked, confused at her request, but did as she asked.

Kuromi moved her head closer to Asahi, so her forehead rested against his. They both closed their eyes, their breaths were shaking. Then she touched his lips with hers. Just a touch at first. It was soft and gentle and chaste and maybe there were no fireworks or sparks, but it was better than that – it was a wave of warmth that filled her up, rushing to every corner of her body. It was comforting in ways that words would never be.

Asahi froze when she kissed him, but then rested his hand below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek. Kuromi could feel the beating of his heart against her chest. Her tense nerves soon began to relax, her troubles, her pain began to melt away and the surroundings began to disappear leaving only her and Asahi. This. This felt true. This felt good. It felt right. He made her feel like nothing else mattered. She never knew a kiss so innocent could be so intimate and electrifying.

Barely able to breathe around her hammering heart, Kuromi drew back enough for warm air to slip between them, slowly opening her eyes and Asahi dissolved before her, a resigned sigh brushing against her mouth before doing the same.

They stared deep into each other's eyes. Kuromi's full of tenderness, Asahi's full of wonder.

He was the first to speak, or at least tried to. "I-I don't-" the boy, now as red as his hair tried to somehow express what he was feeling, but more words just wouldn't come out.

Shame welled up inside her upon realizing that she had just kissed her classmate. What was she even thinking? Oh, right. She wasn't thinking at all. Fantastic. "Dannazione." (damn it.) she silently cursed under her breath, in frustration.

With all the dignity she could muster Kuromi straightened herself and cleared her throat. "You're right. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I shouldn't have-"

"It's all right." He interrupted, brushing his lips with his fingers, his face still red. They stared at each other, and he looked so confused and embarrassed.

"Thank you." She said in barely more than a whisper.

"For what?" He replied, his voice wavered, exhilarated from the tension between them.

"For being you."

But before the conversation could continue, Shiro knocked on the door and came in shortly after making Asahi jump up from the bed. "Excuse me, but it's late and I'm grateful to you for your care, but I'll take over now. I need to ask you to leave, boy."

"No problem at all, I was just about to leave anyway, so goodbye, both of you." He spoke before taking his leave, looking back at the "blonde" one last time before closing the door behind him.

"Well Romi-chan? How were things with your prince?" Shiro asked as she sat beside her.

Kuromi rolled her eyes. "I don't need your sarcasm right now, Shi-chan."

"No, I'm serious. I mean did you see the way he looked at you? If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn I walked in on two lov-" Shiro stopped not believing her eyes as she saw her friend's red face. "Don't tell me...did something happen, while I was away?"

The red-eyed girl sighed. "It's nothing to worry about. Please don't ask me anything else, I'm tired and I need to recover." She said quietly.

"As you wish, Romi-chan. I won't bother you any longer."

Kuromi laid back down and pulled her covers up. "Good night, Shi-chan and thanks for everything again."

The white-haired girl smiled slightly before crawling into the bed and wrapping her arms around her friend, "Romi-chan?" She asked.

"Hmm?" the other girl said.

"Don't scare me like that again, you hear me?"

"I'll try." she told her, smiling weakly, patting her back lightly. After Shiro was gone, Kuromi closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

A/N: That was chapter 4 of The Dragon and the Marlin, next time with a time skip of 3 years, putting everyone in High school! If you liked it, please let me know in the reviews and I'll hopefully see you guys again soon!