** Setsuna **

"Kono-chan . . .?" The swordsman trailed off questionably, looking down at the chocolate-haired heiress in shock.

She had come over to spend the last day of the Christmas break with her beloved 'Miss. Konoka'. But, instead of smiling and pouncing on her with a hug, Konoka had merely mumbled a, "Come in."

"Kono-chan?" Setsuna inquired again. "A- are you okay? What's wrong?"

Ignoring her question, or at least that's what she thought, the heiress slowly walked the rest of the way into the room. The swordsman followed, of course. Was Konoka okay?

The chocolate-haired girl had sat herself down on her bed, her expression both thoughtful yet blank. Her hands rested in her lap, and Setsuna took them into her own as she knelt in front of the girl. "Konoka . . . Please talk to me."

Slowly, Konoka's expression switched from spaced-out to aware. "Setsuna . . .?"

"Hai, Kono-chan?" The swordsman responded. "What is it?"

Konoka's eyes flickered down to her hands and back. She blushed a little, but said nothing about it. Instead, she chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Have you . . . have you ever loved anyone?"

It was Setsuna's turn to blush. Her yes widened, and she quickly averted her gaze. "Well, um, ah . . . of course . . ."

" . . . That night . . . When you kissed me . . . Am I that person?" Konoka asked. Setsuna didn't reply.

Konoka was that person, only, she wasn't sure that she would accept Setsuna's feelings or not. She did want to know if the girl felt the same . . . but she was afraid of rejection.

"Se-chan . . ." Konoka called, causing Setsuna to raise her gaze the the other girl's. "I know what you're thinking. What did I tell you when we visited Yumi?"

The swordsman frowned. What did the heiress tell her?

Sighing, Konoka shook her head. "I never reject you. So please. Tell me."

Swallowing, the swordsman nodded. "Hai . . .You are."

A grin broke across Konoka's face, and Setsuna felt as if a burden had been lifted off of her shoulders . . . Konoka knew . . . and she was smiling . . . Smiling.

"Good." Konoka sighed again. "That means I can do this."

Leaning forward quickly, Konoka locked her – "Setsuna!"

Setsuna blinked as her daydream was shattered by a whispered hiss. Glancing to her left, she frowned at Asuna, who was glaring at her. "Pay attention, God dammit. I can't do this work by myself!"

The swordsman sighed. "Gomen . . ."

Her gaze quickly flicked over to Konoe heiress. She was smiling, quietly explaining the math worksheet to Kaede, who seemed clueless.

"You couldn't of let me daydream for three more seconds? Three?!" Setsuna grumbled irritably, looking back over at the girl. Asuna smirked, knowing full well why. "What? Did I cut it off right before the two of you kissed or something?"

The swordsman blushed slightly, averting her eyes to the worksheet. "Maybe . . ."

Covering her mouth with a hand, Asuna did her best to attempt to try and not laugh. Sadly she failed.

Asuna's giggling soon turned to full out laughing, and Setsuna sank into her chair as more than just a few heads turned their way. Why, God, why?

"Setsuna . . ." Konoka trailed off, glancing past the swordsman. "Why is Asuna laughing . . .?"

Averting her gaze down at the desk, She suddenly found the surface of it interesting. "I – I don't know . . ."

She felt her face blaze with a blush, knowing full well why the Baka Ranger was laughing. 'Idiot!' She mentally cursed herself for being so careless with her words and her thoughts. 'You can't think of Konoka like that . . . You're her swordsman . . . her protector . . . not her lover.'

"Se-chan, are you alright? Your face is all red!" Setsuna felt a certain someone brush her bangs back out of her face, and she looked up just as Konoka pressed her forehead against hers. "Do you have a fever?"

When had Konoka gotten up?

Blinking, it took Setsuna to register what was happening. She felt her face warm considerably as her blush redden more than just a few shades of red.

Giving a small, strangled squeak, Setsuna jerked away – causing herself to tip backwards in the chair. This only caused Asuna to laugh harder. "I – I- I've . . ." Setsuna stammered, trailing off, looking up the the confused Konoe heiress. "I'vegottogodosomething!"

She jumped to her feet and rushed out of the classroom – leaving Konoka staring after her.

~~~Konoka

Konoka blinked, confused. What the hell just happened?

"Se-chan . . .?" She trailed off questionably, staring after the already gone swordsman. Why had she run away? Did the heiress do something wrong? She hoped not . . .

Why indeed. Looking over at Negi questionably, she watched the boy sigh before nodding. She would thank to thank him later.

First, she would have to make sure her Se-chan was aright.

Running out of the classroom, Konoka found her eyes being drawn a little ways down the hall – towards Setsuna.

The swordsman was busy banging her head against the wall rather harshly, yelling, "Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka!"

The heiress rushed forward, stammering out, "N – no! Don't do that Se-chan! Y- you'll hurt yourself!"

Hesitantly, Setsuna turned towards her just as Konoka threw her arms around the swordsman. "You're not stupid! You didn't even do anything for Christ's sake . . ."

There was a moment of silence, and then the swordsman slowly hugged her back. " But I am, and I did . . .Can I go back to bashing my head in the wall now . . .?"

"No! I don't want you to hurt yourself . . ."

" . . . Why?"

"Because I love you! I Love you Se-chan! And, I don't like seeing you hurt . . ."

Was it just her, or did she here Setsuna's heart skip a beat?

"You . . . love me . . .?" The swordsman asked, her voice betraying her disbelief. She tried to pull away to look up at the swordsman, but the girls arms tightened around her, keeping her there. "You love me . . ."

Setsuna's voice broke off with a sob, and her body trembled slightly. Konoka blinked, feeling the swordsman hug her even tighter. Was Setsuna . . . crying?

Konoka didn't know what to say. To be honest, this is probably the first time the swordsman reduced to tears in years. It kind of worried her. "Se-chan . . .?"

"I love you too, Kono-chan! I love you too . . . I've loved you for what seemed like that longest time . . . and now I can say it!" Setsuna responded, pulling back suddenly – as if to see the heiress's reaction.

Konoka's heart fluttered in her chest as she stared up at swordsman. Her hazel eyes were hopeful as she searched the heiress's face for any kind of acceptance or rejection, and they were brimmed with tears. So, she had cried.

Throwing her arms around the swordsman's neck, Konoka pulled Setsuna down an kissed her.

The swordsman gave a small, muffled squeak of surprise, but after a moments hesitation, kissed her right back. It didn't last very long, sadly, and the heiress pulled back after a couple of heartbeats.

Setsuna's face shone with a mixture of admiration and awe. Her mouth twitched up into a smile, and she asked, "Can we do that again?"

***Selena

Setsuna had been able to get her into the school at such short notice. Due to the fact she was in elementary school, she didn't have to wear a uniform. So, Setsuna and her had gone out and gotten her some new clothes.

She bowed to the class, listening to the teacher introduce her. "This is Selena." The teacher hummed, patting the girl on the head. "She . . . doesn't talk much, so please be nice to her."

Straightening, she scanned the small crowd of children. There were about twelve of them. With her, that makes thirteen.

Each one of their curios gazes overlooked her, and she did her best not to hide behind the teacher's leg, like she would Setsuna. Why was she the center of attention?

"My name's Ms. Jones." The teacher said, drawing her attention. "There's a free seat behind Ash, so go ahead and sit there."

Ash . . .? Why was that name so familiar?

A boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes, which seemed to alter from interested to uninterested repeatedly, waved his hand once. "Over here."

His gaze flickered from the teacher and over to her, and his eyes widened. "Hikari?!"

She blinked. 'Why would he call me that?'

Shrugging it off, she made her way over the the desk behind him. Just ignore him and he may stop staring. Just ignore him.

"Mr. Drake, please help Selena catch up on what we've covered so far. Her guardian says she learns fast, and should do well."

"Oh, um, alright . . ." The boy mumbled. "Yes Ma'am."

*** After Elementary School Gets Out~

"So why don't you talk much? Do you just not like people?" One girl asked as her and three other of her friends crowded her curiously.

Shrugging, Selena glanced from girl to girl, starting to become slightly nervous. She felt as if they were suddenly going to start pushing her or something. She's only had more than just a few bad experiences with in being surrounded by other children, so she had a reason to be.

"Yeah, a whole school day, and not a peep from ya'!" Another girl said. "Iz there somethin' wrong with your throat? Does it hurt?"

She shook her head. 'I doubt they can read sign language, so I don't think I can 'tell' them.'

Another girl tilted her head curiously. "Well, maybe she's just shy. Is that it."

Selena shook her head again. She could be shy, at times, but that wasn't the reason she didn't talk. Well, the reason why she couldn't talk. Her mother explained it to her long ago. She was just one of the unlucky few – meaning she was one in a million . . . or thousand.

The extra activity bell rang, and a few of the girls actually looked somewhat crestfallen. They all scattered away, leaving her standing alone in the courtyard with a 'bye!'. Thank God.

She breathe a sigh of relief, reminding herself to thank God when she prayed before bed.

Now she could enjoy a little silence to herself before Setsuna came to get her in about an hour or so. Or, maybe not . . .

"So you're Selena . . ." A voice hummed, causing her to turn and . . . look up. Way up.

Her gaze met a pair of light blue eyes, and she stared up at the man in front of her. He knelt in front of her, so she didn't have to crane her neck to see him. He had sandy blonde hair, and his lips were curved up into a smirk. "It's nice to finally meet you, despite only knowing about you for two days or so. My name's Pyro."

She blinked. He knew about her? How?

"Well, don't seem so shocked. Setsuna may have accidentally mentioned you to me." He sighed. "I've watched you today . . . as stalker-ish as that sounds . . . But, I have a question."

She gave a small nod, as if to say 'go on'. He did. "You said nothing all day long. You merely sat there, allowing others to answer, ask, and explain. Do you not have a voice?"

She nodded again, frowning. 'He sure is observant. He's right, that was stalker-ish of him.'

"Well, forgive me of being a creeper. I was merely curious." He hummed, ruffling her hair.

A man with bleach blonde hair and eyes that shifted from color to different colors repeatedly smiled at her warmly. "I moved on, you know. I may still love her, but I also love you. You do know that, right?"

She looked away, shaking her head in a 'No', covering her ears as if she could block out his words. He was lying! She knew it . . .

"Please, Listen to me, I'm not lying. Why else would I tell you this? I wish not to pull on the strings to your heart! I know you love me as well, pleas . . . reject me not . . ."

Selena jerked back, her eyes widened in surprise. What the heck was that?! And who was that?

The man looked equally surprised. "I sensed magic from you just now . . . do you not know how to control yours?" He thought for a moment before shrugging. "You are still young and have much to learn. But, if you do not learn to control it, it may choose your gifts for you."

Selena titled her head questionably. Pyro smiled, standing up. "Well, let's say you are born with the gift to write, so it comes to you naturally. If you don't choose what genre you love to write, then you're 'natural gift' may choose for you. So, you may wish to write sci-fi, but be stuck knowing how to write fantasy. Does that make sense?"

It didn't, but she nodded anyway. He replied with a grin. "Well, I must be off now, Goodbye."

End, I hoped you enjoyed. X3 shout out to my Onee-san! Better get better soon, or I'll cry! XC I mean it! Kick that Flu's butt!

~Ange981