Prompt: More prompts huh? Okay :3 ClayKim: Clay slowly realizing his feelings for Kimiko and tries to hide it :) (Submitted by scoobiidoosofi3 on tumblr.)

"Hey, Clay," Kimiko asked, "think you could do me a favor?" She looked up at him with earnest blue eyes, and he felt the tips of his ears and the back of his neck grow warm. His stomach, meanwhile, decided to keep busy by continuously twisting itself into knots.

"Not a problem, little lady," he replied as nonchalantly as he could. "What can I do for you?"

She pointed to a shelf just above his head. "There's a box up there—could you just grab it for me?"

Clay tipped his hat at her. "Sure thing, Kimiko," he said as he turned around, grateful for an opportunity to attempt to hide the rising flush. He reached up, and his hand came into contact with something angular and wrapped in paper. He took it from the shelf and held it out to her; it was a decently-sized boxed wrapped in simple brown paper. "This it?"

"Yeah," Kimiko replied. "It's Rai's birthday present—I hid it up there for safe keeping."

He tried to not let his smile fall at the mention of the Brazilian boy. "Well, that was mighty nice of you to get him something special, Kim," he said.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Clay," she said as she wrapped one arm around his waist and hugged him as best as she could. Then she pulled away. "Your birthday's coming up soon too, isn't it?"

Clay put his hands in his pockets and gave her a small smile. "Don't worry about getting me anything," he told her. "Just celebrating it with you is enough of a present for me." Silently, he prayed that she understood what he was trying to tell her.

The message, unfortunately, seemed ignored. "Of course we'll celebrate with you, Clay! What kind of friends would we be if we weren't there for you?"

It stung a bit, the way she didn't seem to notice what he was trying to imply, but he let it go like water off a duck's back. "That's all I need, Kim," Clay replied, tipping his hat down further so that it obscured his face.

Kimiko peered up at him, then. "Are you feeling okay, Clay?" She narrowed her eyes a bit. "Your face is kind of red—are you sick?"

"No, no, I'm alright," Clay replied, taken aback by her question. "I must've... uh, eaten something weird at lunch." He cleared his throat. "Now, why don't you go find Rai? I'll be there in a minute—just give me a second to get some water."

She didn't seem all too convinced by his answer, but she stepped away regardless. "Well, alright," she told him. "But let me know if you feel worse, okay?"

"Will do, ma'am," he assured her with a smile. Only then did Kimiko turn away from him and leave, and when she was finally out of sight, Clay couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

Gee, was she sweet.