Chapter 4: Not as Troublesome

29 November 2013

Ayame stared into space as she was lost in her own battlefield of a mind, thinking up any number of reasons that she could come up with for the blond head to be roaming the streets of Japan freely. It seemed like no matter how much she pulled at her hair, Ayame could only come up with one possible reason. They, had finally managed to break him.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice the door of her room creak and

a certain red head making his way out into her living room.

Mikoto laid in the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. It had been an hour since he'd heard Ayame's return.

The slamming of the main door to her apartment as she entered, followed by the rustling of a plastic bag as it was dropped to the ground, and then silence.

He had not heard a single sound coming from outside the room he was in in slightly over an hour, and honestly it was making him feel slightly uneasy.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Mikoto swung his legs over the bed, placing them firmly on the ground before slowly rising to his feet. A dull pain shot through his abdomen, starting from the point where Munakata Reisi's saber had pierced his body, before radiating to the rest of his torso as a dull ache.

Letting out a grunt, Mikoto ignored the pain and continued his slow journey out of the room. Shuffling over to the room door, Mikoto slowly eased it open before stepping out into the living room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Scanning the spacious living room spread out before him, Mikoto's eyes landed on Ayame's petite frame huddled against the door of her apartment, knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped securely around her drawn up limbs, staring at the four walls of her apartment with a dazed expression, making her look like she was miles away from the present.

The Red King slowly made his way over to the dazed girl, stopping right in front of her.

His shadow falling over her, made Ayame look up, meeting his intense amber eyes with her dazed amethyst ones.

Staring into the familiar fierce amber hues seemed to drag Ayame back down into reality like, the shock from having a whole bucket full of ice cold water being dumped on you while you were still sleeping.

Her lilac hues widened when she noticed who was standing in front of her. Surprise quickly evolved into anger when she realised that Mikoto was standing in front her, risking the reopening his stab wound instead of resting like she had advised him to.

Mikoto watched as the emotions in Ayame's eyes change from surprise to anger in a blink of an eye and, before he could react Ayame's hand shot out, reaching the back of his head and giving it a resounding slap.

Staring at her in confusion, Mikoto opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by an unexplainably ticked off Ayame.

"What the hell are you doing out here?! You're supposed to be resting, in the room, not out here!"

"I heard you enter the apartment an hour ago, but then after the sound of the door closing, there was just silence. It made me kind of uneasy. I thought something had happened. I was obviously mistaken," came Mikoto's gruff response as he rubbed the spot at the back of his head which Ayame had previously slapped.

Pushing herself off the ground, Ayame walked pass Mikoto, turning around midway to the kitchen to face the Red King.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself just fine thank you. Now, go back to the room and rest before your wound reopens and before I drag you back there."

"Hmph. I would like to see you try," replied a grinning Mikoto.

Ayame glared at the Red King in response to his statement, making his grin widen at the sight of her deadly glare which, would have made any ordinary man run in the other direction with his tail within his legs, figuratively speaking. But heck, Mikoto just got a saber plunged through him and nearly died in the process. He'd be the laughing stock of the year if a glare from a mere girl left him quaking in his pants after what he has been through.

Seeing the idiotic grin on his face made Ayame more irritated than she already was. But for some reason, that very same grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, compelling her to smile.

"Heh. You look cute when you glare like that." Teased Mikoto with his large grin still plastered on his usually bored face.

Swiftly turning her back to Mikoto, Ayame effectively hid her face from the almighty Red King as blood rushed up to her cheeks, dusting them with a light shade of pink at his statement.

"S-shut up!"

Mikoto let out a bark of laughter at Ayame's reaction to his statement as, he made his way back to the bedroom to rest, slowly. This made the already flustered girl's cheeks heat up even more, turning it a darker shade of red.

As the room door closed with a click behind the Red King, a soft smile spread across Ayame's face as she realised that Mikoto had unknowingly helped rid her mind of her depressing memories and thoughts.

Maybe her guest wouldn't be as troublesome has she'd initially thought he would be.

- NOTE -

Thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I think Mikoto was a little OOC in this chapter though or, maybe that's just me. HAHAHA! So review to tell me what you think and how I can improve. :)

A big thank you to all my reviewers and those who have favourited and, followed this story or, both.

A heart-felt thank you to Mirei-Chan for taking the time to review all of my chapters so far. Also, I apologise for not clarifying previously, yes, Akari is the husky that took Mikoto to Ayame's apartment.

**P.S. I won't be around for the next two weeks as I'll be in Japan for a short trip. So, I most probably won't be able to update, but I'll try my best to. Sorry. :(