Author's Note:
These characters belong to Gonzo.
. . .
Saiga found a cheap, inconspicuous motel and rented a single room for the night. He'd driven all day straight and was exhausted. The room they found upon shuffling through the orange, peeling door was small—only small. There was no TV, a single bed, and a rattling radiator producing too much heat for the time of year.
He whistled under his breath. "Welcome home."
Kagura set her bag at the foot of the bed. "I'll use the comforter and sleep on the floor."
"No, that's ridiculous. I'll sleep on the floor."
"You're tired, Saiga."
"You're a lady, Kagura."
"Then we'll both sleep on the bed." Her cheeks flushed crimson.
Saiga turned to the window, flicking back the curtains to check the scenery. Kagura moved across the room to stand quietly beside him.
"Pretty sunset," she murmured. She wrapped her arm around his waist.
His heart leapt. Boldly—or what to him felt like boldness—he enveloped her shoulders with his arm. He watched her nuzzle his shirt and turn her eyes to look up at him, a grin blooming across her cheeks. Unconsciously, he bent down. She cupped his jaw and kissed him softly. Saiga felt increasingly guilty as he enjoyed her affection: the more comfortable Kagura became touching him, the more his stomach lurched when she did.
"Hey," he said, leaning away from her. "I saw a movie theater on the way up here. What do you think about catching a show?"
"Sounds fun!"
Kagura held his hand the whole way to the movies. Saiga's other hand fed cigarettes to his mouth, attempting to calm his jumpy nerves.
"You aren't okay with this, are you?" Kagura asked, frowning as smoke rolled from his lips.
Saiga almost swerved the car to gape at her. "I'm… I just don't know if I'm doing the right thing."
"You don't feel the same way I do?"
"I do feel the same way—maybe even more so. I like…this." His thumb traced her knuckles. "I like it a lot, but I'm worried that maybe… I'm too old."
"You aren't old, Saiga." She giggled.
"I'm twice your age."
"It doesn't bother me."
"And I'm thinking that maybe it should."
"You're saying I shouldn't love you?" Her brow creased in confusion.
"No. Ugh. I don't know what I'm saying; all I know is that I'm old, and you're young, and sometimes I feel weird about the things I think… about you."
"Like what?"
He decided he'd try a few things Bob spoon-fed to him. "Things happen differently for me. We have a huge maturity gap, and I'm ready for things that you aren't."
"Oh." She tore her eyes from the window and stared at him. "Saiga, I trust you; and if you go somewhere I'm not comfortable going, then I'll tell you. In the meantime, do us both a favor and stop worrying so much."
He tore his eyes from the road to meet hers. "I'll try."
. . .
Kagura chose a cutesy, girly romance. Saiga figured he's sleep through whatever movie they watched, anyway, so he readily accepted her choice. His eyes threatened to bring him into slumber at any moment, and he rubbed them fervently to keep himself awake.
He bought a bag of popcorn for them to share, and Kagura held it between them. Saiga slouched in his seat, right arm extended over Kagura's shoulders; she leaned into him, and he enjoyed the way her body shook against him when she laughed.
Just as he reclined his head back to nap, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He shifted his weight to fish it out, disturbing Kagura's attention with the screen. She flashed him a quizzical look.
"It's the doctor," he whispered.
Kagura followed Saiga into the hall when he answered the phone.
"Nice hearing from you, Doc."
"I bring good news."
"That's always welcome."
"There's a research facility in America that's willing to help you both. They've got an extensive DNA program and—"
"America?" Saiga echoed.
Kagura's eyes widened.
"Listen, that's great and all, Doc. But I have some bad news for you: there's no way we can get out of the country. Ginza took my passport, and there's no way we could get Kagura one, anyway."
"I've already taken care of that. I pulled some strings, and a friend of mine who owns a small printing company agreed to print you both a couple of passports—new names and all. No one will know you left."
"I wouldn't know how to get around. It's been years since I've spoken English, and I can't read the damn stuff."
"That's why I'm going with you. I'll be your tour guide."
"I learned English in school," Kagura interrupted. "I can and read and speak a pretty good amount."
"So…" Saiga scratched the back of his head. "America?"
"When can you be at the Tokyo airport?"
"Give me two days."
"Alright. Meet me there in two days, eight-thirty in the evening."
"Thanks, Doc. You're the best."
'That's what they tell me. Take care."
"America. . ." Kagura breathed. "Wow, Saiga."
. . .
Saiga put his back to Kagura and faced the stained, generic-flower wallpaper. For the life of him, he couldn't make himself sleep; he just kept counting the petals on a particularly large flower over and over again. Finally, he had no more resolve left, and he rolled on to his other side to find Kagura's eyes wide open.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" he asked.
"No."
He yawned. "I don't get it. I was almost falling asleep at the movies, but now I can't even shut my eyes."
"Are you worried about the trip?"
"Maybe." Things could get ugly if their passports didn't clear. "Are you?"
"I trust you and Doctor Ryogoku."
"It'll be an adventure—no matter what happens."
"Have you ever been to America?"
"I went once to New York City."
"What was it like?"
"Well, that was way back in the day. I was still in college, and I needed to fill an apprenticeship to get my degree, so I signed up with a fashion photographer who shipped me out to a show in New York. It's not a bad place. Lots of different people. But that's just New York; I don't know what the rest of the country's like." Saiga pulled the blanket over his shoulders. "But you know some English, huh?"
"Yeah. We learned a lot in school. They said it was good to know for business. Do you know much?"
"Eh. A little. I've worked with some American photographers before, so we spoke a kind of jargon. I know numbers well, though."
They laughed together. Kagura smiled wide and wriggled closer to Saiga.
"Can I tell you something?"
He fought with himself—needing to pull away but wanting to feel her breath on his cheeks at the same time. He gripped his pillow. "What?"
"I always dreamt about living in a fairy tale. I would pretend I was a princess locked away in a tower. A brave knight would come to rescue me, and he would whisk me off to someplace magical: happy and fun. Every time I ended my dream, my knight would take me in his arms and kiss me." She plucked the sheet. "I never thought I would ever be rescued or ever get that kiss."
"You're saying I'm your knight?" Saiga chuckled.
Kagura nodded.
Stretching out a finger, he pushed her bangs from her forehead. "I think you saved me just as much as I saved you. You've given me a purpose, a reason to struggle through all this shit and try to find some light." He smiled softly. "Thank you."
She curled her fingers around his hand and pulled him closer, pressing her lips against his. Surprise called on his instincts, and he wrapped his arm around her back and returned her kiss. Several breaths passed before Saiga's brain could find enough will to make any protest, but he desperately didn't want to. He felt her fingers spread against his chest.
"Okay," he broke away. "This is fantastic, and you're irresistible; but we need to lay down some ground rules. We can't kiss—can't touch—when we're in the same bed."
"Is something wrong?" Her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"No, nothing's…" He stole another brief kiss. "Nothing's wrong. But I can't tell myself I'll go slowly and kiss you in bed at the same time." He rolled over again to face the large flower. "We need to go slow."
Kagura stared at the back of his head and waited until her heart stopped thudding spastically. "Saiga?"
"Hm?"
Kagura sighed, smiling as she closed her eyes. "I like kissing you."
. . .
They ate donuts as they sped towards Tokyo. Saiga explained that they needed to drive the whole day—night included.
"You need to sleep sometime." Kagura objected.
"I'll take a nap or two this evening, but I don't need to sleep a lot. Do you think you'll be alright sleeping in the car?"
She nodded. "I'll be fine. You're the one I'm worried about."
"What's new?" Saiga laughed.
"It feels weird going back to Tokyo."
"We won't be there for long; we'll board the plane and get out of Japan. I can't believe I'm saying this, but America will be safer."
"You don't think Suitengu will find out, do you?"
Saiga glanced at her. "I don't know. I can only hope not."
. . .
Author's Note:
I have a confession. Saiga's uncertainty and discomfort are actually my uncertainty and discomfort: I realize there's a huge age gap between them, but they're such a good couple. So every time you see him back away, just think of me—awkwardly working my way through these scenes while trying to put myself in Kagura's shoes (hell yes, I'd take him!).
I don't know if Saiga would be that uncertain, but it makes me feel better when I write him that way.