AN: Konnichiwa minna-san! I am back with the interesting Chapter 14! If you read on you'll see why I didn't include this with the last chapter, although it has a huge realtion with the end of the last chapter. I thought I'll be done soon with this fic, but I am far from done! For your info, they are at day 10 (this is the 2nd part of day 10)! They still got four days to go! That means...I don't know how many chappies for me! What you see here is what I came up with my magical fingers on the keyboard! I don't plan...I improvise! Ha! Ha! Ha! (laughs like Ayame). Alright...I want to send my thanks to all my reviewers!

KawiinessPnay, I can't help but to respond to you (don't worry everyone! I'll thank you at the end) because, of your reaction to Yuki in chapter 112 in the manga. Well, if you think he's that way...I'll have to agree with you (heh, heh). You'll see when you read on!

Enjoy, minna-san!

Chapter 14

"Darken Affections"

It not like you could just stand still...

and think of all the possibilities...

that could happen in one day...

The showers of the late afternoon slowed into an orange-colored evening. The skies quieted as the sun disappears behind the drifting clouds, reflecting its light on the calm waters of the lake. It orange-toned rays shone through the glass of the many window panes in the shelter nearby. The soft orange lighted the dining table in the kitchen, along with two persons enjoying evening's meal in clean clothing.

"I hope... you like it," Machi shyly asked as she picked up a snow pea with her chopsticks. She was completely different than she was earlier. Yuki wondered what was going in her mind.

Now she's quiet again...but that's okay...

...because this the personality I fell in love with.

"It's great. Thank you for dinner." Yuki assured her with a smile. He put more vegetables on his plate and ate it along with rice, which was in a small bowl next to his plate.

"I would've fix more...but we're running out," Machi said. Her face pinked as she looked down and arranging and rearranging food on her plate.

"It's quite alright. I prefer a light meal over overtly-excessive ones. This is just perfect,"Yuki assured again. He stole a glance at the girl across the table, who also tried to look at him. When she caught his eye, she looked back down again, blushing. He beamed at her reaction.

Aww...she's such a shy one...very cute.

"You know...when you are like this...it's very cute," he chuckled as he spoke. "That blush accompanying that cute face..." Yuki leaned in closer to the table, "...makes it even cuter."

The pink on her face shifted to red and her eyebrows furrowed in embarrassment. "I-I-I told you not to be mushy!" she scowled.

"Ha! Ha!" Yuki laughed, "Now, that's the Machi I know. I was quite worried there for a moment." He continued eating with a elated smile.

Machi responded with an baffled expression, witheyes widen and lost in thought.

Worried? Well... things had been...strange...

Was I the strange one or is it just this day is so strange?

Or is he...

A pat on the head brought Machi back from her thoughts. Yuki was already up with his dishes in one hand. His right hand, which was on her head, moved to her left cheek. He lowered himself to place a kiss on the right side of her temple.

"Don't worry about it, baby," he said near her ear, "As long as we are happy, there's nothing to worry about." He walked towards the sink and placed his dishes.

Machi looked at his back as if something was on it. Confusion increased within her as she stared.

Baby? Baby! What is going on?

He is so strange...like always...

But that phrase...is suspicious...

Yuki returned to the table to take the serving dishes and her dishes, but he could see that she hasn't finished.

"Machi, are you done? I could take this if you are," he asked as he started to pick up the larger serving dishes.

"I'll take them," she said, picking up her dishes and walked to the sink. After she placed her dishes, she stayed by the sink as Yuki joined her with the larger dishes. He turned on the water, put the plugger in the drain opening and poured liquid soap. Then, he picked up the dishes, starting with the large ones and stared scrubbing. The entire time with suds and bubbles, he was quiet, but serene.

Machi assisted him by taking the rinsed dishes, dried them with a clean rag and placed them in the cupboards. She repeated the process, until she reached the last dish, a teacup. When there was nothing left, she was at lost of what she should do next. For the reason of an awkward atmosphere, she doesn't know what to do. Lost in her thoughts again, she drifted slowly back to the dining table.

What to do...why does this atmosphere feel so unfamiliar?

Yuki, on the other hand was wringing the water from the rags and cleaned the tabletops in the kitchen. He just realized how relaxing cleaning could be, thanks to a little lesson from a certain onigiri. He hung the rag by the sink after he cleaned the dining table.

Sitting nearby, was his stoic girlfriend. Strange. The atmosphere between them felt peculiar. Maybe because the house was quiet, without the squabbling from Kakeru or Kimi? When he finally came into realization, he became nervous that he was making Machi nervous.

Speaking of the girl, she departed from her seat at one of the dining chairs and walked away. Yuki looked over at her retreating form and sweated.

Does she feel the same way?

This strange air between us...

As he followed her direction, he felt like his steps were getting lighter every moment. Within his chest, his heart hammered like it never did before. It caused the bloodstream in his veins to rush through like a rapid river. Perspiration formed on his hands and his forehead the moment he saw her standing by the living room window.

W-what am I suppose to do now?

Apologize? Comfort?

"I shouldn't be feeling like this," Yuki scolded himself, "It's shameful. After all this time we were together. But why I am feeling like this all of the sudden?" He frowned at the feeling within him and gazed at the girl who probably felt the same.

As cabinet members. As friends. As girlfriend and boyfriend.

But...

..This kind of thing...

...I don't know what to do.

By the window, her features were dimmed by the partial lighted sky, which shifted into the night. As she stared through the glass pane, a sense of fear and confusion waved over the depths of her chest. The feeling was not new to her, for this was how she felt before he knew of her feelings, but why did it return?

"Nervousness. Uneasiness. Fear...of what?" she whispered to herself.

It was like we just learned that we liked each other and now we are feeling awkward about it...but aren't we are suppose to surpass that stage by now? Why now?

"We are never left like this before," a whisper answered her voiceless question. She turned her head to see the other who shared her nerves. "Tell you the truth, I never thought that we would ever be left alone...all day, until now. I was afraid was making you feeling strange. I am sorry if I did." He smiled apologetically.

"Don't apologize. It's my fault to make you feel that way. I should be the one to apologize,"she said, monotonic and serious, other words, her usual self. "I was being strange the entire day. All the smiles and laughs were stuck inside of me, like they were entrapped forever...I was just releasing..."

"Didn't I tell you it's alright as long were are happy?" Yuki reminded her, "It's more of a relief to me...that you are. Besides, you are not the only strange one. I am quite strange myself!" Yuki pointed at himself and laughed.

Yes. I am strange in many ways...

Machi smiled lightly at his laughing smile. As his laugh slowly came to a stop, his smile was replaced by a more intriguing one. Very similar to the one he gave Kakeru before he departed. The girl froze once she saw this unfamiliar Yuki.

"You do realize where you are standing...Machi," he said in a soft, low tone, which speaks danger in Kakeru's terms.

"Um..."The girl looked at her surroundings in a darken living room, with the moonlight glistening through the window as the only source of light. She glanced at the window and gasped.

"Remember?" A sly grin appeared on his face. He took both of her hands and gently lead her closer to him. As he does, her entire body became tense from nervousness.

He's doing it again! Saying that he didn't meant to make me feel strange! And there he goes doing strange things! Yet...he did admit he is 'strange'.

I hope this is not what he meant...

"Our first encounter was here...during another day of rain," he whispered in her ear. "During that time...I was just going to tell you how I felt, then ended it with a kiss..." He slid his left hand from its grip of her palm and up to the middle of her fingers. "Right here..." He brought those finger to touch his lips.

"And here," He spoke as he leaned closer and kissed her forehead. Her eyes closed and face flushed in reaction. "Yet, you surprised me and introduced me to a new sense of hunger I never felt before." His breath heated against her ear and neck.

Machi was shaken at the new persona Yuki's introducing. So far, she felt nothing, but mixed emotions of wonder and fear.

He wasn't kidding around! Manabe was right!

She returned to her senses when she was face to face with the boy. "Yuki? Why? All of the sudden..." was all she could say in a shaken voice.

"Because I love you," he replied easily as it were a straight answer.

"But...you never..." she sweated as she looked straight into his eyes. She could see that the familiarity was dispersed, replaced by a gaze that could make any female pass out in seconds. She turned away in fear and nervousness.

"There's no need to be afraid. I won't hurt you," he cooed as his fingers slid in between the strands of her hair. He brushed away the strands to reveal the nerved expression of her face.

"It's just that it's very frustrating that I couldn't put my arms around you...that's what you always wanted, right? I always wanted that too," His fingertips lightly touched the girl's left cheek as she slowly turned to him. "Be held with warm arms."

"I'm sorry," Machi whispered, looking down, "For that. It's..." Her sentence was interrupted by an index finger over her lips.

"It's only a natural want to be physically loved. I used to yearn for it when I was younger...but, now I want to provide it...not as a helpless, little boy, but a man. Out of fear, I always held back...thinking 'I don't deserve it'. But...in this instance...it's is no long just 'me' anymore..." His gaze darkened as he moved closer to her, "I don't know about you, but I will no longer hold back..."

He pulled her to him by the shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. With eyes as wide as they could be, the touch send a shockwave through her body the second it happened.

Unlike the first touch or other touches of lips, it was more ravenous than before. She caught his hunger pang within the touch and returned it with more of a touch of a carnivore, with tongues struggling among another and teeth scraping against the delicate flesh of the lower lip. Thus, bruising his lip. He fed her hunger with rougher, but more mild, touches of his own, leading to her neck. As he devours the soft flesh of her neck, with his left hand holding the back of her head, he carefully brought them down on their knees, resting on the carpeting of the living room floor.

He caught his breath in between his devourment at the left side of her neck with hands holding her steady by the upper arms. She could only close her eyes and stroke her fingers through his hair, inhaling the sweet, floral shampoo scent as he shifted to the other side of her neck. Her breathing was controlled by short intervals of inhaling and exhaling, caused by the races of hormones. The heat from his breath causes the pores of her skin to water.

"I knew it, you...were holding back," he breathed as he raised his head from her neck to her shoulder. "You should've claimed me last night..."He hesitated, "Oh, on second thought, that wouldn't be good with them there, ne?" He moved from her shoulders, to see the outcome of their battle of hunger.

The girl had her hand to her chest as if she tried to regulate her heartbeat. On her neck, were purplish, dark marks that could only be made by him. She stared the boy across from her with a dark glare. "That would be...shameful."

"Heh. Wouldn't it?" He smiled in a playful manner, leaning back with the support of his arms.

Silence.

He looked at her with his bangs covered over his left eye. His right eye gave off a silvery gaze, reflecting from the moonlight emitting from the glass of the window pane.

The girl in front of him was staring back with an intense gaze, concentrating the stare she was getting. A random thought from a thoughtful person replayed in her head :

Machi! Listen to Onii-chan and don't do anything that has to do with bed sheets!

"Aren't you tired...Yuki?"she asked, with hidden, devious intentions.

"Not really," Yuki said, brushing the bangs that was covering his eye. It seemed that he didn't catch her reasoning of asking. Also, it seemed he reverted to his normal self...not that he has another side. The girl responded with a perplexed expression.

He's not tired...after 'that'? I suppose...it's not the right time anyways. We're still somewhat a new couple...it seemed wrong, too.

Then...why does it feel like it's...okay?

Machi lifted herself from the ground and gazed the boy still sitting. "I suppose I'll read for a bit, then go to bed," she announced her plan for the rest of the evening.

"Allow me to join you," Yuki said. He took the girl's hand, which was rested on her side and pulled her closer to him. He brushed his lips against her ear and whispered, "After reading...we both might be exhausted." Following his words, was a deep and gentle kiss in which defined a closing night.

If we cannot hold each other...

At least...

Let us display our affections in other ways...

...Machi.

AN: Oh my be-jeezus! I never thought I'll ever write that! That was intense, ne? It more of an intense atmosphere, than a strange one. (Laughs at Yuki in Chapter 110). This chapter is much "darker and mature" than the fluffy chapter before it and I was afraid that it'll take that away, so I seperate them by two.So, KawaiinessPnay, do you think Yuki has 'hidden' intentions when he asked Machi? He probably wants to finish up what he didn't do back in Chapter 102, lol. If only Kakeru wasn't there...Okay! I better stop being an author-perv! I bet you all cannot wait to see what happens next, ne? In the next...Kakeru returns! Will 'onii-chan' find out what has become of his little sister? (dum-dum-dummm) Stay tune to find out what is to become of our heros!