A/N: Sorry for the absence, I'll try to update faster next time. Well, we've gotten to a point where the story can finally move along—I know it seems a little rushed and there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but all the corresponding emotions/feelings/whattheheckisgoingon will hopefully be dealt with in the next few chapters or so. :D

I thought of a few extra K words that might go with this, too, (knees, kindle, keel, etc). Well, that was a bit random, wow.

(Edited, sorry, question removed ^^;;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

.*.*.*.

K is for Kiss

v) to touch with the lips especially as a mark of affection or greeting

n) the act of kissing

.*.*.*.

The first kiss was an accident.

"Tch. You're doing it all wrong, Suzuna."

He tapped her hand exasperatedly, trying to adjust her fingers around the pencil. Suzuna noticed the proximity; he clearly hadn't since he was still behaving in his usual manner, brow furrowed and scowling, and she took this opportunity before it left her—leaned back slightly against him.

Inhaling.

Graphite and faintly fragranced detergent; a flowery, boyish medium between feminine and masculine.

Hm.

He smelled nice.

"Here, hold it like this."

Her hand was corrected again, his digits enclosing almost gently around the base of her wrist and Suzuna didn't mind the touch. It was pleasant, despite the faint roughness of his fingertips, caused by years of needle pricking accidents. She allowed Aoi to guide her against the blankness, trying to get something out of her.

A mistake.

"Suzuna! You're not trying!"

The drawing on the paper—if one could call it that—was a misshapen mess and the girl felt a small smile curve her lips against her will, bordering on sheepish.

"Ah. Sorry, Hyō—Aoi-kun. She mentally chided herself for the slip. It was a bit difficult getting used to referring him by his first name, for some reason, but Aoi didn't seem to mind—

He was impatient for other reasons.

Aoi pulled back with a sigh, tugging on his navy strands. "I don't get the point of this… How come you want me to teach you how to draw, anyway?" he whined, glancing over to her with a somehow new expression. Bashfulness and contempt? Could that even work?

Well, apparently it could.

Ah.

Cute.

"Because," Suzuna simply replied, not offering any explanation. She wasn't going to tell him, though, not yet—there was no way one could overlook his talent, having spent so much time in drawing and designing dresses. Hyōdō Aoi was a pretty good artist, even if he didn't acknowledge it himself.

Finding his hand with her own again, dragging it back to the paper, Suzuna could feel the boy stiffen. Had he finally noticed their nearness?

"Uhm, Suzuna, wait…"

She turned at the same time he leaned in to say something, just barely catching a glimpse of those widening cobalt eyes and—

Eh?

Their noses bumped.

Close.

Soft.

Warm.

Against her lips?

Mere seconds. Aoi was the first to back away, nearly falling out of his chair. She watched, blinking, his face turning the darkest shade of red she had ever seen it, his palm clasped over his mouth as he seemingly struggled to find himself.

"I-I—"

Suzuna could only stare, tea-colored gaze blank and unwavering.

Was that a…?

Before either of them could really come up with a decent response, the navy-haired boy stumbled awkwardly to his feet, tomato-faced, and dashed out of her room without wasting another second.

"Ah, Aoi-kun!"

The door slammed. Hand trapped midair.

Too late.

Suzuna's felt her own cheeks, barely—just barely—heat up.

"…kiss?"

Her eyes remained trained on the door. And she was left wondering how on earth Hyōdō Aoi managed to get past her like this once again.

Damn.

Damn.

Damn.

He was going to die.

He was going to freaking die—

—because he had just done what he promised himself he'd never do, and now he was running down the sidewalk like his life depended on it, face flushed and everything so out of place.

"Screw this!"

It didn't take him long to reach home, pushing past the door and up the staircase to his room, immensely thankful his aunt was working at the café today. His hand tightened around the doorknob as he attempted to catch his breath.

What—

…was that…?

Aoi pressed a hand to his temple, trying to calm down. Head whizzing with thoughts, he slowly pushed the door closed with his back and slid down to the floor. His cheeks were still warm, eyes squeezed shut—ah, Suzuna's lips—had been soft—and, well, he pulled away just seconds later—so, maybe he was overreacting—because they had hardly even touched, but—

It was just an accident, right?

There was no way he actually wanted to…

To...

"Gah…" the boy groaned, bowing his head between his knees.

Why was his heart beating so fast?

"Aoi-kun, where are you goi—?"

"Walk home without me!"

He hadn't even turned to look at her, already rushing past the gate.

"Good morn…"

Shifting away in his seat.

"…ing."

She trailed off, silently sitting down in her own.

His phone beeped.

Again.

He shut it off.

"Wow. Did you draw this?"

Suzuna didn't open her eyes when she heard her sister's voice, curling up in her bed with a magazine placed against her chest. She didn't have to see what Misaki was referring at to know.

"No. Mine is underneath it."

"Ah—" Misaki's tone changed at the shuffling of paper. "A-Ah… It's… very nice."

When she didn't answer, the older Ayuzawa turned to see the taciturn dark-haired girl flopped on her bed so passively—more than usual—and she couldn't help but feel concerned, moving to sit on the foot of her bed. "Hey. What's wrong, Suzuna?"

"Nn…"

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

Suzuna remained completely silent, ignoring the skeptical look she was sure Misaki was giving her. It was nothing? Oh, forget it. There was no point in denying things that were true, repressing the obvious from her mind. She and Aoi had kissed a few days ago; albeit accidentally, but it had happened and now he was avoiding her, and things seemed strange, and she…

She didn't know how to feel.

Misaki seemed to be waiting for a response but she sighed at the blank look her sister was wearing. Scooting closer over to her, she reached over to ruffle the younger girl's hair, letting her fingers slide under Suzuna's fringe in the way she did when she knew there was something bugging her.

"Seriously," Misaki started, a half-smile tilting her lips. "Did something happen with Aoi?"

"…Why do you assume that?" Suzuna asked her, blinking in surprise.

The older Ayuzawa shrugged. "Lately, you guys haven't been hanging out as much."

"Is that s—"

"Yeah. You really like him, don't you?"

Ah.

"If you're surprised that I figured it out, don't be," Misaki continued, grinning. "I'm not as dull as you think I am."

"But, when it comes to feelings towards your husband—"

"Not my husband!"

"Yet."

"Suzuna!"

She giggled in response to her older sister's blushing face; though Misaki seemed to realize the tables were turning and immediately pushed all thoughts about her boyfriend away, leaning in to pinch the girl's cheek. "Hey, you're not getting off that easily. What did the brat do?"

"We kissed."

Misaki dropped her cheek. "You what?"

Suzuna stared back. "When two people rub their li—"

"I know what kissing is," the older Ayuzawa said in a somewhat exasperated tone. Even so, she couldn't really believe that her little sister and… Aoi-chan could have… "Was it an accident?"

Was it an accident? It certainly seemed like it. Suzuna found herself nodding, face turning the faintest shade of pink. "Mm. He left before I could say anything, though." To her surprise, Misaki's face went from skeptical to infuriated and she stood up, waving a fist in the air.

"That little punk! I'll kill 'im! Agh, really! Making the moves on my baby sister and running off like a coward!"

"Onee-chan—"

"Oh, just let me go find him…"

What was it with being interrupted? Now, she knew how talkative people felt, and she wasn't even all that talkative! Suzuna reached out to grasp her older sister's sleeve, keeping her from dashing out of the house like some maniac and beating up her potential boyfr—wait, what was she thinking? Could Aoi, perhaps… Irrelevant!

"Please refrain from hurting anyone, Onee-chan," she urged. "It was just an accident. I'm sure nothing was meant by it."

"Nothing mea… Suzuna, it was your first kiss!" Misaki paused and shot the girl a bewildered look. "I mean, it was, right? You haven't been…"

Sighing. "Of course it was."

Misaki finally seemed to realize that this was a more sensitive topic than she was making it to seem and held back the stream of death threats directed towards a certain navy-haired boy as she placed herself next to the younger Ayuzawa once more. "Did you… like it?"

Did she like it?

Well.

"…Yes." But, it was brief. Too brief. Way too brief.

"Hmm," Misaki hummed in thought. "Would you do it again?"

Would she do it again?

Oh.

"I suppose," she shrugged. Definitely. Yes, yes, I would definitely do it again.

The smile that curved her older sister's mouth was enough to tell Suzuna that whatever she had planned was something that she probably wouldn't do if she wasn't already so out of it with everything that had been happening lately.

"We need to talk."

Takumi raised a brow. What an obvious statement; after all, he certainly hadn't come to Hyōdō Aoi's house on the notion that he might be fitted into some fancy dresses. Even so, he nodded and allowed himself in when the younger boy gestured, watching as he seemingly looked around before locking the door quickly.

"What's up? Afraid of witnesses?"

Aoi flinched. "My aunt isn't home yet and I don't want her to know about this."

This? "Oh, you're attraction towards me."

Shooting the blonde a venomous look, Aoi bit back the urge to kick him and settled for a deep sigh instead, slumping his shoulders. There was no use in trying to explain to idiots.

"Don't worry. I already know."

Oh, god. "Please shut up, you asshole, and listen." He gestured upstairs so that they could head into his bedroom and Takumi chuckled quietly to himself, deciding against making another suggestive joke for the sake of the younger boy.

"You're the only one I could turn to," Aoi began when they reached his room, turning to look up at Takumi with a determined glare. His cobalt eyes flashed. "I need your advice."

Alright, so that was painful to admit, but he certainly wasn't going to ask his aunt, or her friends, or worse—Suzuna's sister, Misaki-chi—that was like a death wish and embarrassment bomb rolled up in one. He needed a guy's help and even if that guy turned out to be the dreaded, annoyingly nonchalant, and pervert of an alien, Usui Takumi, then…

Ugh.

It can't be helped.

Takumi grinned and reached out to ruffle Aoi's hair, (before his hand could be rudely slapped away, of course), moving past him to plop down on his bed and. He stretched out his legs and folded his arms beneath his head in a lazy manner. Grass green eyes complimenting the cheeky half-smile that adorned his features, he looked pointedly at the other. "Sure. Shoot."

Right. Shoot.

"Well," Aoi turned his gaze away and realized this was harder to say than he'd thought. "It's about… uhm, Suzuna and me. I sorta—I mean, we, uh, well…"

"Go on."

"Erm…"

The blonde figured he'd make this easier for the clearly bashful tsundere, yawning uninterestedly. "Did you use protection?"

The room went silent.

Aoi took a few moments to process the words, looking over to the older boy with an expression that slowly went from confusion to horror. No. No. He had heard wrong. That was it.

"Um, what?"

"You know. So you don't get her preg—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" The navy-haired boy gritted his teeth and pointed a finger accusingly at the alien. "I didn't mean anything like that."

"Hmm? You sure?"

His face was burning. Did that idiot Usui seriously assume he had… No, no, he was not even going to think about him and Suzuna doing—having—"Gah! Of course I'm sure!"

Takumi found himself smirking. "Then what's the big deal?"

"We kissed!" Aoi declared, irritable rather than initially flustered. If he only he could stretch out his hand and smack some sense into the older boy; some advice! "B-But it was an accident, I think!"

It was an accident. There was no doubt about it. Even so, Takumi tilted his head in a look of amusement, picking himself up slightly from his relaxed position. To think that Aoi would actually bring him over to talk about something like this—something so painfully obvious, he had no idea why the younger boy didn't just accept his feelings.

"You think… What does she think?"

"I… don't know. We haven't really been talking for the last few days…"

"Ah, that's no good," the blonde shook his head. "You can't just push away the girl you love. You've gotta annoy her until she has no choice but to love you back."

Typical. Misaki could vouch for that.

The heat rose to Aoi's cheeks. He scoffed. "Who said anything about love?"

"It's written all over your face, lover boy."

Groaning, he collapsed in the chair in front of his desk and pulled at his navy hair in exasperation. He felt too drained to deny the statement, though the distaste was visible in his features.

"I don't know what to do…"

Takumi hummed, understandingly, and paused for a moment to think. What could he say that might help the kid figure out how to deal with the situation. Being honest was clearly out of the question, so he'd have to find a way to curve around the issue…

"Don't do anything."

"Eh?"

Aoi glanced over in surprise. That wasn't the answer he was expecting.

"Just act normal. Pretend it never happened."

If only it was as easy as it sounded.

"But—"

"Let me finish," the older boy smirked, grass green eyes stirring. "If she likes you back, she'll definitely get revenge."

Wait.

Revenge…?

"…And, what, that's supposed to be a good thing?"

Suzuna had been waiting outside the gate early that day, absentmindedly tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear and puffing out her cheeks. Normally, he'd wait for her, but that hadn't been the case for the last week or so with Aoi ditching her constantly.

He hardly spoke a word with her anymore.

She tried not to let it bother her.

But it did.

Catching sight of a familiar head of navy hair, she immediately grew alert and straightened, eyes following him as he—ack, he was going to pass by—she reached out and tried to grasp the shoulder strap of his book bag.

"Aoi—!"

The girl ended up tripping over her shoes in the process, landing painfully on her knees against the rough concrete. She winced and hissed through her teeth, lowering her head.

Aoi immediately turned around at the sound and a sick feeling started in his stomach.

"S-Suzuna?"

Body on autopilot, he wasted no time in kneeling by her side, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her up. "Are you alright?" He frowned a moment later when he saw her face, brow furrowing.

"Finally talking to me…"

She was smiling.

"When do you think we can finish that drawing?"

"Y-You—"

Aoi gnashed his teeth together.

"You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?" he couldn't stop himself from screeching, tearing his eyes from her face to her knees—they were red and scraped, bleeding slightly. "Agh, you're hurt."

Suzuna shook her head and pulled herself gently out of his grasp, easily concealing any pain she felt. "No, I'm relieved…"

"Eh? Relieved?"

"Yes."

He almost asked her why, but the thought escaped him; he was too angry with her and himself to think straight at the moment, and the scowl returned to Aoi's face as quick as it had left. "I just—god, I'll never understand you, Suzuna," he muttered. "Do you have any idea how much that freaking scared me?"

Agh.

It had come out by mistake.

Aoi didn't even know himself what exactly it was that had scared him—the fact that she had gotten hurt trying to reach him—or the way she managed to stay so calm after he'd abandoned her—or the kiss from earlier, and that…

His ears pounded.

He couldn't act normal around her.

Suzuna blinked, not expecting that type of response either. It felt strange. He… was being so concerned over her, (in a completely Hyōdō Aoi sort of way), and the notion made her stomach flutter and the stinging of her injury seemed to disappear.

And she realized that she truly couldn't hold herself back at that moment, no matter how reserved she was or how much self-control she possessed.

She leaned up to kiss him.

A quick brush of the lips. They had hardly touched. She pulled back and sighed, watching the expression that had been so previously tensed—

—fall completely.

Aoi's eyes were still wide as he regarded her, not completely sure of the situation. Usui Takumi's words came echoing through his head and he was sure that he would probably melt into the ground at any moment, all thoughts slowly dissolving into nothingness.

And then the girl with the scraped knees smiled, delicate mouth tilting up just slightly. Her amber eyes seemed to glow and Aoi found himself sucking in several short breaths to slow his crazy heartbeat.

It took him a moment to even attempt to form any words.

"What… What was that?"

"Hm? You don't know?"

The first kiss was an accident.

But the second was...

"Revenge, of course."

The look on his face had so been worth it.