She had been his first everything. His first kiss, first girlfriend, first lover. She had left his life the same way she had entered: seemingly silent, and without a trace. And now, she had returned in just the same manner. He needed to get to this train. He had already missed the first one. All he had to do was take four and half steps to the right and descend down the scattered steps. She hadn't seen him. There wouldn't be any need to ever see her again. Somehow though, despite himself, he knew he wasn't strong enough for that. Silently, he cursed himself.

"Kiara."

She lifted her head from the map, turning it to the direction of the sound. Instantly, her lips broke into a wide grin. Her expression was exactly the same, as though they had seen each other just yesterday.

"It will never fail to surprise me how tall you truly are."

"It's been how many years, and that's the sort of greeting you give?"

She laughed, and he was filled with nostalgic longing that made his heart ache.

"As cold as ever, I see. How have you been?"

"Fine. I'm afraid I have a train to catch though."

He made to leave, silently exhaling and congratulating himself. He had made it through. He had not counted on ever seeing her again, and it hadn't exactly panned out the way he had always imagined it back when he was still a teenager, but it was done. He didn't need her anymore.

"Kei!"

How that voice still managed to pierce through his very core, he didn't understand. Despite himself, he stopped. She caught up to him, "Maybe we can grab a coffee or something? To catch up." She suggested hopefully.

With his hands in his pockets and the best indignant expression he could muster, he muttered a 'maybe,' before descending down the stairs to catch his train.

…

"What are you doing?"

She pressed her lips to his skin once more. "That's a silly question. Obviously I'm kissing your chest."

He made a gruff sound. She looked up at him, "Does it bother you?"

"I didn't say that." He said casually, though she noticed the soft pink hue that lined the tops of his cheeks.

She smiled. "I'll keep doing it then."

"Maybe you shouldn't."

She bit her lip, still smiling, and moved up, so that her lips could meet his. "Do you prefer when I kiss you like this?"

He wrapped his long arms around her, and flipped her down so that she lay next to him, rather than on top of him. He held her in place, though she whined. "Kei, you ruin everything."

"Shh. Go to sleep."

Though she closed her eyes her fingers found his chest, and they continued to form circular patterns around and down towards his stomach.

"Stop." He grunted.

She pecked his lips. "Well stop playing volleyball. And then you won't have these delicious abs and I won't have any reason to touch you." She giggled at the last part, biting her lip playfully.

The train lurched forward before tossing back in a screechy halt, shaking him from his memories. He nearly fell on the person standing next to him, but managed to reach for the bars just in time. He glanced up at the labels of the station. Only one more stop to go. Had that much time passed? He didn't even really remember getting on the train to begin with.

She had that exact same smile. Her hair was a bit longer. It suited her, though. And she had said his name in just the same way as she had all those years ago. As though she didn't remember how things had been left off.

Perhaps she didn't. She had always been carefree, to a degree that rather bothered him. But it was exactly that free-spirited-ness which drew him to her.

He got off at his stop, with numerous other people. For a moment he wondered how those shorter than he managed their way through the crowd. It must be quite an exhausting effort, day in and day out. As another gust of wind abducted his face, his thoughts circled back to her. She had managed to become his everything, in such a short amount of time.

He knew better than that, of course. Everything, every nerve in his body, every logical thought he had ever conceived screeched at him to stop. That the only possible outcome for this fantasy was ruin. If he got too attached then it would hurt all the more. He had seen it happen too many times. Had gone through it himself, once, for her. It's why he absolutely refused to do it again. Instead, he would simply do what he always did. For as long as he could remember, he survived by applying minimal effort to nearly every aspect of his life, never allowing his interests to burn with the fuel of passion. He wouldn't give in this time. There was simply too much risk involved otherwise.

A/N: Tsukki gives me life.

Heartthrob-san: Omg your comments made me laugh and smile this giant stupid ugly smile. Like I made this really nasty snort-laugh noise when I read the "Tsukki used ASTONISH" bahahaha. Killed me. Thank you.