AN: All right, thanks again to everyone who read and/or reviewed! I've started another project recently that has been taking a lot of my time, but do not worry, there's still a lot of Aberration on the way! Also, I'm sorry for the lack of characters this far. This will continue for the next chapter, as I wanted to get things really going with Kamina and Yoko.

Okay, I have nothing more to ramble about, so on with this...

We Could Be Glorious from the song "Glorious" by Muse.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter three: We Could Be Glorious

Yoko stood, as promised, in front of The Shack on Friday night. She was about fifteen minutes early just to be sure, but now she started to have the feeling that Kamina was the type of guy to be late and make it up just with a smile. She didn't want to admit it, but she was a little nervous; mainly not because this was her first date in a long time, but because she was going out with a possible madman.

From behind her, she could sense the curious stares of her co-worker. He wasn't used to seeing her outside from work – or in clothes different than her uniform. Not that he was looking like that; Rossiu was this solemn introvert type, didn't speak much but did his work. It seemed that he held little interest towards his colleague. Yoko's knowledge about his personal life was limited; as the only thing she had gotten out of him was that he was working here for the same reasons as her. Yoko wasn't one to pry and so they never had become friends.

She had thought about her outfit for the night very thoroughly; it was important to send the right message. She was wearing tight fitted jeans that hugged her form just right and a black top that was made of this fluttering, light fabric and on top she had a simple, short leather jacket that was of a dark red color. It was a casual combination, but the clothes looked good on her. Her makeup was slightly darker than usual, centering mostly on her eyes, and she had put her long hair in a simple ponytail that suited her well. The message was: I'm looking relaxed and pretty without giving the impression of making a big effort. To emphasize this, she had her glasses on – kept her from appearing too enthusiastic.

Days prevailing the night of the date had passed in a mixture of horror and anticipation. At times she was filled with curiosity as to what this Kamina fellow was really like, but mostly the whole date-thing pained her tremendously. After all, she had been dragged into this situation against her will and she just knew it was going to be something edgy… well, not that she had anything better to do, did she? At least she'd get to see a movie for free.

Yoko hadn't even considered blowing him off, as the result was obvious. He'd probably hunt down her address and come pounding on her door in the middle of the night, demanding answers. Yes. Better to go through with it, suffer quietly, like she was prone to put it. She glanced at her clock and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. He should be here soon.

A few people passed by her and into the store, as well a couple of dog walkers and a lonely runner, but otherwise the street was quiet. Sun had already set behind the tall buildings and the night was darkening rapidly, so she decided to stretch her legs and move into a pool of artificial light coming from the streetlamps. Another look at her watch. Why was she being so antsy? Yoko let out a deep breath, closing her eyes and at that moment she heard footsteps approaching.

"No need to get so worked up, Miss Red." There came a familiar voice filled with amusement. Yoko opened her eyes as Kamina stood with her in their pool of light. His dark red colored eyes quickly went over her form, and even though they didn't reveal his thoughts, he was making Yoko a little self-conscious. She fiddled with the hem of her top, grasping a hold of herself.

"Hmph. I was just thinking about what I'm getting myself into." She retorted. Somehow his laidback arrogance got her on the defensive. Kamina, on the other hand, replied only with a grin, relaxed in a way that wasn't appropriate on a first date. First dates were supposed to be a little uncomfortable, yet exciting, as both participants were still grasping the personalities of another.

"We should get going," he noticed after a moment of silence, "you look nice, by the way." Saying this, he turned and started to walk in the direction of a nearby parking lot.

Yoko hurried after him, eyes wide with surprise and irritation at the same time. 'By the way?!' It was infuriating, how he could just drop a compliment here and there like it was nothing. He didn't even give Yoko a chance to react… if there was something to react to. When he said it like that, the words praising her looks, the moment supposed to be romantic – they lost all meaning, shrinking into something like everyday small talk. Yoko's hands balled into fists as she set herself in step with his long strides.

"Where are we going?" She asked, tense. Kamina glanced at her.

"I've got a ride." Suddenly, he grasped hold of Yoko's wrist and led her across the street. His hand was warm and his touch firm and Yoko thought for a second that she could feel the blood pulsating through his veins; so vibrant, so alive. And then they were in front of the car and the moment ended, his skin retreated from her skin.

"Ride" was an understatement. It was a screaming red sports car, some highly expensive model with its roof hanging low and the whole vehicle just emanating speed, power and agility. To Yoko, it looked like a large feline predator, ready to pounce on her prey. She heard Kamina laugh at her amazement. She then noticed her jaw had dropped open. "…Is this… yours?" She asked, still half in shock, barely keeping her voice from shaking. She had to tear her eyes from the car.

"Nah," he shook his head, still entertained by Yoko's expression, "borrowed it from a friend. I had a feeling I had some impressing to do."

Now it was Yoko's turn to smile, and nodding she turned her gaze back on her ride-to-be. "That's… you, it really was…" She staggered. "I've never been in a car like this." Her fingers trailed the car's roof and she didn't even notice she was rambling. Kamina's hand appeared on her shoulder. "Get in, then."

He guided a nervously snickering Yoko on the passenger side, opened the door and watched her slide down in her seat. She investigated the insides of the car like a kid at an amusement park. Kamina got down in his own seat shortly, checking his surroundings as well. "Let's hope I know how to drive this. Well, can't be that difficult!" He stated happily, starting the vehicle with a promising growl from the engine. Hearing this, Kamina smirked to himself, but Yoko wasn't looking so content.

"Wait a minute… you haven't driven this before? Ever? Then I'm getting the hell out of her--"

Without warning, the car jumped backwards, jolting into a stop inches before the nose of the next car.

"Kamina!" Yoko cried and grabbed the edges of her seat. Kamina held the steering wheel with a determined grip, grinning widely.

"Like I said. Can't be that difficult. What was that saying about riding a bike…?"

'…Heavenly Father—oh, screw that, any divine power out there, please take care of the innocent bystanders tonight and lead them to safety, and, if possible, please save me from the horrible fate this man is guiding us at…'

The red sports car curved its way elegantly into a vacant spot in the movie theater's parking lot. Needless to say, the car gathered curious looks and lingering, wistful gazes effectively. What an entrance.

Inside, Yoko sighed in disappointment. The ride had been fun, even more than she had dared to expect, even though there were a few moments too thrilling for her liking. She had rolled down her window and clear nighttime air had flooded the car, pulling at her hair, making a wild howling sound. Their speed wasn't anything special because of traffic, but the experience had still made her laugh like a child.

Now her hair was a tousled mess and her makeup was running but she couldn't care less. She felt like someone had charged her up and she was now full of energy. She rolled her window back up and turned to look at Kamina, who had just turned off the engine. Their eyes met and both let out a laugh.

"Fun, right?" Kamina asked, not really anticipating any reply, because the answer was plain visible on Yoko's face. She nodded, wiping the makeup from her cheeks. "Yeah. But how on earth did you convince your friend into lending this to you… Did you not tell him you barely know how to drive one of these?" Her eyebrows arched, sarcastic.

"People usually don't decline my requests," Kamina told her matter-of-factly, "…as you should know." The look on his face was teasing and his eyes held a challenge that she rather not care to answer. She already knew she was the losing side in that argument.

So, instead of coming up with a witty retort, Yoko just looked away and muttered darkly, "Let's just go and get this over with…" She opened her door and exited the car, leaving behind a laughing Kamina.

After locking the car, they set towards the theater's entrance. Kamina had purchased their tickets beforehand, but when asked, he refused to tell Yoko just what they were seeing.

"But what if I've seen it already?" She questioned.

"Not a problem. This movie is meant for re-watching. I've seen it twice." Then he abruptly deserted the topic and pulled her along to get drinks. After a debate of sharing or not sharing their popcorn, they were seated in the theater, watching the commercials roll on. Yoko munched on her – well, their - popcorn with a doomed sort of look on her face. She now was aware of the movie's title: Fists of Destruction 4: The Apprentice's Revenge.

"Hey! Watch it," Kamina ripped the cardboard bucket from her lap, "if you get fat I'm gonna dump you."
Yoko glared at him menacingly. She hadn't bothered to criticize his choice of film out loud, but now he was also stealing her comfort food. "I paid for those, " she snapped, taking a protesting, loud sip of her drink. Kamina pretended not to hear her.

"Shh, it's starting."

Yoko said nothing to this, only slumping down in her seat. Great. She had before her about two hours of men smacking each other around. This was probably the worst date movie known to man.

Half an hour had passed and Yoko had totally given up on following the plot that was constructed mostly of illogical twists and senseless turns, probably to avoid the predictability often seen in this genre. She looked around in the dim theater, realizing that she was just about the only female in the already sparse audience. She fought the urge to groan and turned her attention on her date.

Well, this had been part of the reason why she had agreed on a movie alone. That way she had the opportunity to freely analyze the man who seemed so dead bent on seducing her… or whatever it was he wanted. For a man that open he was hard to read.

He wasn't nervous. He didn't worry about appearances. He didn't care what other people thought about him. He was tremendously – even foolishly – confident in everything he did. He had charisma; not because he was especially funny or clever, not because he had a quick wit or a way with words – but he had this aura, different from anything Yoko had seen before. He was like the sun gathering smaller objects around it; he was like the light attracting the moth. A natural leader, Yoko guessed.

She followed his changing expressions, desperately trying not to smile. Whenever there was a long, manly speech cheering on the almost-beaten protagonist, a sudden fire would light his eyes up and he leaned forward in his seat, forgetting everything around him. To her ears, the dialogue sounded childish, illogical, and to put it bluntly, stupid, but it was clear that it appealed to his feelings. Other parts aroused different reactions like anger or movement. Especially scenes concerning brotherhood or partnership seemed to affect him, making him look like he was somewhere else. Maybe it was something he could relate to.

The movie was already halfway through but Yoko didn't notice this, being so immersed in her thoughts and observations of Kamina. Therefore she wasn't aware of the more romantic sidetracks in the story, and was completely taken by surprise as Kamina suddenly put the moves on her.

Yoko had to stifle a laugh at his smoothness when his arm slid oh-so-accidently over her shoulders. That had probably taken a lot of practice, and she deduced that he had a set of selected, honed moves combined with a good sense for timing that made all the girls melt.
She pretended that she hadn't been staring all this time, and spared him a glance that she was sure he took notice of. Kamina's face was completely neutral, like he wasn't doing anything. Yoko couldn't help but chuckle softly, earning herself a few condemning glares, as a serious scene was playing on the screen.

Kamina's arm stayed on her shoulders for the rest of the movie but he didn't try anything else. Yoko decided to play along with this game of acting like nothing was going on, and didn't react to his gesture. …Well, maybe she shouldn't be so hard on him, even though the movie was horrible. She leaned a little bit closer and his scent filler her nose, tickling her senses because she couldn't quite decipher if it was his cologne, or just him.

This much was clear: he was an idiot to boot; very interesting one, but an idiot nevertheless.

Miraculously enough, Yoko lived through the nightmare of a movie and finally, after an incomprehensible and long ending scene the credits started to roll. Yoko hid her yawn in her sleeve and felt the weight of Kamina's arm shift from her shoulders. Weird. She had forgotten about that.

Kamina stretched his hand up in the air and beamed at Yoko. "Great, huh? I swear I heard you sob a few times."

…Actually, that was Yoko masking her groans of desperation. But she nodded her false agreement, not wanting to start a futile argument about the movie's credibility - which was zero, but hey, she wasn't going to say anything. She shrugged her coat back on as Kamina did the same. She took notice of his jacket which was pretty impressive. It had these high collars and on the back was portrayed a logo of some kind that Yoko didn't recognize. Or maybe it was a gang emblem, even though Kamina didn't strike her as the usual gangster type – he was way too good natured for that. Yoko was curious, but didn't ask.

They got out of the theater, both happy to be back in fresh air. It was completely dark now, save for the streetlights. A chilly, northern gust of wind blew over the silent parking lot. The days might've been suffocating hot, but as soon as sun went down, the air started to cool down.

"Are you cold?" Kamina asked, watching Yoko closely. She shook her head and smiled faintly. She knew what was coming and that she had to shoot down his expectations.

"So…" he started, "what now?"

"I agreed only to a movie, remember?" She reminded him gently. No need to be rude or cold; he was probably a nice man. Great even, if you didn't include the "ladies man" side of him, but there was no way this was going to work. "Look, I have to get up early tomorrow. And don't give me that look, I know tomorrow's Saturday, but I have work. So… what if we just get back?" She tilted her head, looking up at him, smile warming up prettily. Maybe she'd get better trough him with this approach.

Kamina ran a hand trough his hair. "Man, you're tough. I thought my manly traits would've won you over already… But I guess I'll drive you back. " He accompanied his words with fake suffering, but soon gave up the act and smiled again, eyes lingering on Yoko's lips. Maybe he was thinking about kissing her, but decided against it. Yoko followed after him to the car. It was better this way. He had made it clear that he was interested in her, but it was best to keep things as clean as possible. Yoko didn't want to string him along.

They hopped into the car and sped from the parking lot a little more gracefully than the first time. As it was getting late now, there were fewer cars around and Kamina got to test the engine out. He seemed very satisfied with the results, and the city flew by, turning into a whirl of lights and colors and velvety darkness. They were back at the store in no time.

"You should lose your license for that, " chided Yoko as they pulled up at The Shack. She was only playful, though, because seriously, what was the fun in getting a car like that if you couldn't use it properly? She ran her hand over the dashboard, a wistful look in her eyes. "I'm gonna miss this."

"Then I need to take you on a ride again, don't I?" Kamina suggested, half joking, half serious. Yoko thought it best not to react. She didn't get out of the car yet, thinking about what would be best closure for a sort-of-date like this.

Kamina turned to look at her with make believe concern. "I seriously hope this doesn't mean that you actually live in there too…" He pointed at The Shack. Yoko slapped his hand away which only made Kamina look at her like she was crazy. "No!" She then motioned towards the darkness outside.

"I live close here, in that direction," she muttered, and after a moment of consideration she added: "Jerk."

"All right, all right, sorry. But you can't blame me for that. It seems to me that you're spending all your time at work…" His eyebrows rose.

"And what's wrong with that? There's a reason I can't afford cars like this."

"Yeah, yeah…" He agreed, but all of a sudden started to grin. Devilish was probably the right way to describe it. "This way I'll always know where to find you, if I start to miss that little uniform of yours." His low voice sounded positively predatory.

Yoko felt her face flush. "I'm getting out of this car." She stated in a black tone and moved to open the door. She practically heard Kamina's grin widen. "Wait. I'll walk you."

Outside, Yoko thought about stomping off on her own, but then Kamina closed his door with a slam and locked the car. She glared at him with her arms crossed on her chest. Kamina, that over-confident bastard, was still smiling. With a huff, Yoko finally gave up and came around the car down to the footpath. Kamina stuffed his hands into his pockets and they started to walk, side by side. It appeared that he wasn't about to make dirty remarks again, so Yoko relaxed and let her arms fall down to her sides.

They fell in an almost-companionable silence; one that wasn't entirely comfortable but not awkward either. They settled with quick glances at each other. Yoko looked up. The sky was covered with a weaving of grey clouds, the moon almost hidden; only casting a lighter hue on the clouds around it. They were nearing her apartment, but Yoko found that she still had one question to ask. She put her hands around her back and hopped a few steps ahead Kamina, then turning to face him, her features in a sort of mixture of slyness and curiosity.

"So, how many are there?" She asked in a light tone.

Kamina scrunched his eyebrows. "What?"

"Come on, you know what I mean. Don't look like someone hit you in the head; it won't fool me." He was indeed looking like he had no clue of what she was talking about. Yoko's voice was still perky, but underneath it laid a warning: there was no way he was getting out of this by playing stupid.

He still said nothing and only kept looking at her questioningly. Stubborn, huh?

"Kamina… just spill it, I won't judge you. I know your type."

"Well, if you know my character so well, why don't you let me in on the big secret?"

Yoko let the pretences of a smile drop. "Are you serious…? Fine, then." She sighed in exasperation. He was going to make her say it. "I was talking about girls. How many others than me? There's no way a guy like you would be dating just one chick at a time. And hey, I get it, why not try out several and pick the ones you like? It's not like it's a crime." She hated that she had to explain herself.

Kamina stopped abruptly, and by accident at the door of her building, too. "I don't get it…" He said slowly.

"Why would I want to date other girls?" He asked finally, and from the shock on his face, Yoko had to believe that he was being sincere. And in that case, his words were pretty startling.

'But what about his abnormal confidence in picking up women? There's got to be some serious experience behind that!'

Yoko took a step at him to get a closer look at his face. He looked back, and his features were earnest.

"Well…" She was at a loss for words. She hadn't expected this. "Why wouldn't you…?"

"It's not what I want," Kamina stated simply, and his words were surprisingly sure and firm, like he was certain of himself. "It's not what anybody would want. All people deep down want or need is just the right person for them." He shrugged.

Yoko's eyes widened and her lips parted. Did his words imply that he thought of her possibly being the right person for him…? All words escaped her and she was at the same time very worried, and very flattered. Her eyes held his gaze for a little while longer, until she leaned up on her toes and touched her lips to his cheek. It was just a quick peck, because even though he said some nice things, the movie he chose was still crap; but her eyes twinkled and her smiling lips were soft and even someone like Kamina would lose his footing from something like that.

His eyes followed her as she moved towards the door.

"This is my building," she told him, "thanks for walking me. Later."

He was only capable of nodding. After watching her run up the stairs, Kamina stood there a little while longer. Then a very determined look crossed his face. He had just found something he wanted. And he was going to get it, just as surely and evidently as a comet on its course towards a planet.

AN: I hope you enjoyed and I wish everybody a great weekend :)