A/N: Thank you everyone for reading the previous chapter. I was amazed that even after 7 years of not updating this story, people came back to read it. This one I began writing in June, but then lost my inspiration in the middle. Recently I have been in a bit of TyHil mood so finally decided to go through with this today.

Summary: Tyson knows he's being a bit too overprotective, but he won't let anything foil his plans of staying the night at Hilary's house.

Tale 04

Tyson watched as the ice clinked against the glass, only shining bright for a moment as the brown of the barley tea that Hilary poured into it drowned its glitter completely. She handed him the glass with a smile and when their fingers brushed against each other's during the exchange, Tyson was well aware of the sweat that broke out on his face. He could only hope that the brunette would not pay heed to it, considering that it was one of the hottest summers Japan had seen, it wouldn't be too odd for him to sweat even with the air conditioning all maxed up. He could always blame it on boys his age being hot-blooded too, Hilary would definitely eat that up with a scoff. He took a sip from the iced tea that was just handed over to him to cool his nerves slightly, and watched from the corner of his eyes as she did the same. He grimaced mentally as he realized how perfectly calm Hilary seemed with the situation, her face showing no sign of discomfort, which was relieving for him, but it also held no excitement and that worried him.

It was no secret that her parents were probably the most lovey-dovey middle aged couple in all of Bakuten. For Tyson, who had never seen his father and mother together, whenever he ran into the Tachibanas around the town, he would always have to hold down the urge to gag in their faces. So of course as soon as the first weekend of their summer break arrived, the couple ran away on an impromptu romantic getaway, leaving their teenage daughter to fend for herself for three whole days. Okay, Tyson had to admit to himself, that he was overreacting just a little bit. Hilary was used to being alone at home as both her parents worked late hours, and such impromptu trips around Japan were a usual happening during the holiday seasons, so it was no surprise that the brunette was completely unfazed by the situation. It was however the first time this had happened after Tyson's recent awakening, to use the term a bit freely, with regards to his long term best friend.

He remembered the day quite clearly. It was just one month after they started high school in spring this year, when the boys had been getting ready for PE in the classroom. With Kenny ending up in a different class than him, Tyson had managed friendly relations with all the boys in their class, after all he had an overall likeable personality that drew people naturally towards him. But since he spent most of his time in the class talking to Hilary, and outside the class talking to Kenny, he hadn't managed to get close enough to anyone to call them his friend. So it was not unusual for him to change by himself in his usual corner without partaking in the chatter that went around the room during these times, and he had only just unbuttoned his shirt when the casual remark reached his ear.

"But to think that even in Bakuten, which is so far off from civilization, we ended up having a total looker in our class."

"You talking about Tachibana san? She has the best set of brea-"

His classmate never got to finish the sentence as Tyson saw red and before he knew it his fist had collided with the boy's jaw so hard, not only was he knocked off of his feet, he was thrown halfway across the class. Hiro had always told him, that sometimes his punches were like taking a baseball bat to the face and in that moment he couldn't help but agree with his brother. Naturally their PE class had been suspended, the boy was first taken to the infirmary, then the hospital. As the only witnesses to the incident had been the other male members of his class, they were all reluctant to divulge the details of the incident to anyone in fear of enticing Tyson's wrath. Hilary had grilled him to death for days to tell her why he had attacked their classmate so viciously, and as much as her choice of words were like a dagger piercing through his heart, his pride had made him keep his lips sealed. He could only imagine the guilt his best friend would feel if she found out she was the reason behind his actions that had almost gotten him suspended from school, had it not been for Hiro's exceptional debating skills that only appeared when Tyson was in deep trouble.

And he definitely was not going to admit to the brunette that this was the first time he had realized that she had breasts, and that he did not want other boys to look at them or even talk about them. No, that privilege was supposed to be only Tyson's but even after a year had passed since the incident, the blue haired teen was yet to make any move that would help him attain said privilege.

So it was only natural for Tyson to be worried that Hilary would be home alone for three days, and when he had tried to sleep his worries off the night before, nightmares of some creep entering into her home and harming her had managed to keep him awake all night. He wondered if the Tachibanas were aware of just how much of a beauty their daughter had grown up to be, and how much attention she would attract walking down the street in even something like plain overalls, because this was Bakuten. They must be oblivious about this, just like their daughter was, he had concluded, because the brunette never seemed to care about the comments that passed around about her.

Once he'd realized that he would not be able to sleep, he had gone for an unusually long morning run to clear his head and think about how he could console his fears without letting on too much to Hilary. After he got back, he waited till noon, staring blankly at the wall in his room until he figured it was a good enough time to claim that he had just woken up to Hilary over the phone, after they bickered back and forth for a while, which was just their way of communicating normally, he was successfully able to trick her into inviting him over for lunch. As he made his way to her house, Tyson wondered if he could use the same tactic to get him to stay the night, because it definitely would cause suspicion in the brunette if he were to suggest this himself.

But soon the heat got to him and by the time he reached Hilary's house, he had already forgotten about all the ways he could lead the conversation that allowed him to stay with her till her parents returned from their trip. It wasn't until Hilary turned up the air conditioning and offered him chilled water that he noticed what she was wearing. Tyson tried his hardest to not stare at her legs so blatantly, but it was difficult considering the length of her white shorts, or lack thereof. Even the lilac tee she was wearing had been tied to a knot around her waist, curving around her body as perfectly as it was possible. Tyson wondered if she had chosen the clothing because he was coming over or if she was as annoyed with the heat as he was and just wanted to be comfortable.

He himself had donned a maroon tank top and loose fitting gray joggers, his trademark baseball cap was a must and today he had worn it correctly to protect himself from the heat, which earned him a good laugh from Hilary as soon as she opened the door. He'd be too drained from walking to pout, his original intention had been to earn a few compliments about his muscles that he had developed by sticking strictly to her training schedule. But she seemed to always make him beg for those and only when he was least expecting it, she would throw praise his way about something he had done when he was sure no one was watching. It did always make his heart beat faster, when he realized she was always watching.

"So you doing okay?" Tyson asked casually, trying not to gulp down the tea in his hand because Hilary would definitely reprimand him about brain freeze.

"Tyson, my parents have been gone for less than three hours, out of which one I spent on the phone with you," Hilary answered, rolling her eyes at him.

Tyson scowled at her easy dismissal of his concern for her safety and well-being and decided to gulp down the drink out of spite.

"How many times have I-" she started but paused, a knowing look settling on her face, she shook her head and continued, "never mind. Tell me what you want to have for lunch."

"Omurice." He replied immediately, any traces of the scowl on his face disappeared quickly at the mention of food.

Hilary's cooking was tricky. There were some dishes that she was excellent at and some that she could never get right, being as stubborn as he was, she continued to try nevertheless. So it was always a hit and miss when she showed up some days with a bento for him at school or decided to make lunch for everyone at the Dojo if she was hanging around. The others had learned to mask their reactions to the dishes that didn't turn out great but Tyson always felt the need to be upfront with her about what tasted good and what didn't, to make sure that she doesn't embarrass herself in front of other people. And though this did often cause friction between the best friends, at the end Hilary always appreciated his honesty.

Omurice happened to be one of the brunette's specialty, no one could make the egg taste as fluffy and delicious as Hilary could. Coincidently this happened to be Tyson's favourite dish.

Her face lit up triumphantly over his reply, as if she had known the outcome before even asking the question. Tyson watched from his position at the counter top as she pulled out a few containers from her fridge, and when she crossed him to get to the stove he peeked into those, one contained beaten eggs, one cooked rice and one some chopped vegetables. He couldn't stop the grin from covering his face, she just always knew everything when it came to him.

Hilary talked about the location of her parents' latest pick for their rendezvous animatedly while she was cooking and Tyson listened obediently. He could feel the tinge of loneliness in her voice on being left behind as always, something that he related oh so well to, but was impressed by how well she continued to mask it. Tyson could hear it of course, because he knew her too well, but to someone else she would genuinely sound excited. A bitterness settled in his mouth as he felt his temper rise against the Tachibanas once again, when they were around they were the sweetest parents to the brunette but in his books they needed to think more about how she felt when they weren't around.

A comfortable silence settled between them over lunch, mostly because Tyson couldn't be bothered to speak when he was busy stuffing his face and Hilary felt satisfied watching him eat her cooking so enthusiastically, she instinctively got up to serve him seconds before he could even ask. In that moment, Tyson wondered how they would look from a third-person's perspective, probably like a married couple a voice at the back of his head answered. Tyson choked at the thought, catching Hilary's attention, who quickly rushed to his assistance with a glass of water and rubbed his back to ease the process.

Apart from that minor glitch, Tyson concluded to himself that lunch went quite well.

Now they were in her living room with Tyson sprawled over the couch, and Hilary sitting at the floor with her back against the couch and her knees folded up to her chin. Tyson was trying to recall the plan he had thought of that would make his best friend literally beg him to stay the night but he was drawing a blank. Firstly, after lunch Hilary had pulled up her now waist length curls into a bun and if she moved her head even slightly, the nape of her neck would brush against his knee, replacing his ideas and plans with thoughts about how soft her skin always felt against his.

"So, what should we do now?" Tyson absent mindedly wondered aloud, more to distract himself than to start a conversation with Hilary. He hoped that their usual flow would lead him to an answer and save him from attempts of racking his brain for the earlier plan.

Hilary turned, resting her elbow on his thigh and her chin on the back of her palm, she looked at him with a glint in her eye. His breath caught in his throat at the sudden physical proximity but he managed to keep a poker face as he returned her stare. At times like these he always wondered, whether she was doing this unintentionally out of habit or if she secretly enjoyed teasing him.

"Should we get started on our homework?"

Tyson deadpanned at her words but one look at her face told him she was being serious and he let out a loud, disapproving groan.

"Hils, are you seriously going to make me do homework on our first day of summer break?"

"See I made two copies of all our worksheets, in case I needed to re-draft any of the answers, so you can just use one of those," she replied, completely ignoring his reluctant tone and already planning their study course in her head, "imagine not having to worry about this stuff on the last day of vacation like you usually do." She added snidely.

"That is tradition, and I'm a firm believer in those." Tyson met her gaze with determination. No he was not that whipped that he would spend his first day of vacation doing homework. Even if Hilary continued to look at him with her wide ruby orbs pleadingly, making his heart melt. He had to stand strong. Homework at the beginning of vacation? What will be next, going to the library instead of the beach? Studying ahead of their syllabus so when school reopened they would be at the top of their class? No those were things his best friend should do on her own time. When he was around she should-

Then it struck him.

"If I were to agree to your outrageous idea, will you agree to mine?" Tyson arched an eyebrow at her, watching her face as intently as possible. There was a flicker of doubt in her eyes, as she narrowed them at him, probably trying to read his mind to figure out what he was plotting. She used to be better at this when they were younger and Tyson wore his heart on his sleeve, but lately she had been losing her touch. And as he predicted, she couldn't keep his intense stare for longer, her cheeks were tinged with pink as she huffed lightly and looked away.

"Fine. What are you suggesting?" She asked, now twirling a loose strand of her hair and avoiding his gaze, the pink was yet to subside Tyson noticed.

"We will do two assignments, and I mean it Hils, two assignments only," he warned her as her face instantly lit up at his words, "after which we will watch a movie of my choice." He concluded, still trying to look as normal as possible, and not like someone who had some ulterior motives.

"Okay, I'm good with those terms."

Hilary happily skipped up to her room for their study materials, and Tyson covered his face with his hands the moment she was out of sight. His face was burning red with embarrassment, if any of his other friends found out that he had agreed to sit and study during vacation they would immediately catch on to his real intentions. He had managed to keep his crush on Hilary a secret till now, but he was sure his efforts would be wasted the minute word about this got out. On the other hand he knew, for his plan to succeed, he needed to be on Hilary's good side.

When she came back down and they settled around the coffee table, he couldn't help but smile when he noticed she had picked two of the subjects that he was fairly good at and not the ones he hated. Their study session mostly progressed as per Tyson's expectations, there was less of talking and Hilary would shush him if he tried to joke about their worksheets but overall things worked in his favour. The brunette became completely engrossed in her work, re-reading and redoing bits she wasn't satisfied. Tyson was always amazed by her dedication towards perfecting everything she did, but today he was grateful for it. When he cast a glance outside the window, he smirked, the sun had already set and one look at his watch told him he had achieved his goal. Keeping in mind the time Hilary would take to prepare dinner, the movie would go on well into midnight, exactly how he wanted it to.

He felt more relaxed once he realized he was on the right track, he didn't complain when Hilary asked him to help with dinner and despite her many warnings, he did end up fooling around during the preparation, which led to her best friend banishing him from the kitchen despite his many claims to behave from thereon. While eating dinner they watched a sitcom Hilary wanted to watch, but as soon as the lights were off and the popcorn was out, Tyson commended himself internally for his well thought out plan.

Hilary had been wary about the title he would pick for them from the beginning, hence she insisted for the sitcom to play during dinner. Tyson knew her well enough to know how exactly she reacted to certain genres of movies and finally he was able to use that knowledge to his advantage. While horror movies didn't bother her much, his best friend absolutely could not sleep well after watching a mafia or gangster movie with unnecessary gory scenes. His night could go two ways, either Hilary would ignore the movie completely and just fall asleep, in which case Tyson was prepared to carry her up to her room and crash on the living room couch. He was hoping for this outcome solely because he could exit in the morning before she woke up and she wouldn't even have a hint that he stayed the night and his overprotectiveness of her would continue to be a secret. The other possibility was, Hilary would be too disturbed to sleep alone and ask him to stay over on her own accord. Now this might be more amusing than the first one, but he also knew how embarrassing it would be for both the parties involved.

As the movie began with the first scene itself being of a person getting his brain splattered across the scene, Tyson didn't have to look at Hilary to know the disgust that would now be covering her face and he had to hold back his snickering. It was in an instant when she comfortably settled into him in the couch, burying her face in his chest to avoid looking at the screen. He hoped that the loud bangs and the thumping background music of the movie prevented Hilary from hearing his own loud, thumping heartbeat as she continued to snuggle into him. The whiff of her shampoo hit his nose and he realized that not even a single dialogue had registered in his head till now.

Instinctively he draped an arm around her and settled his chin on top of her head, he felt Hilary stiffen for a second over the sudden initiation of contact from him. But she relaxed into him once again and he had to hold back the relieved sigh that was about to escape from his lips. Once again, the air conditioning was blasting on full but he felt heat radiating from not just him but Hilary too. He wasn't sure how many minutes had passed since the movie started, he'd seen the film last week with Kai so he should've been able to recognize the part playing on screen and yet all his brain could do was revolve around the fact that Hilary actually fit perfectly into him.

With only the light from the screen illuminating the dark room, Tyson decided to sneak a glance at the brunette and saw that her eyes were actually fixed downwards and not at the screen and she was playing with her hair, not paying any attention to the movie. Tyson felt a bit worried, would she be scared enough to ask him to not leave her alone for the night if she wasn't actually watching the movie? He had no choice but to bet on the length and boring dialogues of the movie putting her to sleep instead.

Very suddenly, Hilary moved her head to look up at him and as their eyes met, Tyson watched her face go completely red as she realized instead of watching the movie, he had been watching her. He felt a bit embarrassed too, but he absolutely could not tear his gaze away from her. He was not sure if his mind was playing tricks on him but he saw a flicker of longing in Hilary's ruby eyes as she continued to keep his gaze. He gulped very loudly. The thought of what he was about to do next scared him, but he figured it was a now or never sort of chance that he should not waste.

Tyson leaned his head in Hilary's direction slowly, his eyes dropping to take in the sight of her slightly parted lips that he could no longer keep away from. When instead of moving away, Hilary moved towards him, Tyson triumphed internally, he was finally going to take what was rightfully his-

The phone rang louder than the movie's audio and it made both the teens jump, instantly making them put some distance between them. Tyson could feel his face turn red hot as the realization of what was about to happen between him and his best friend settled in his brain, he was sure that Hilary was wearing a matching look on her face but he had not yet regained his composure enough to turn and look at her. Hilary's phone continued to ring loudly springing Hilary into action as she snatched it from the table in front of them and answered it as normally as she could. Tyson quickly moved to pause the movie and turn the lights back on as Hilary started her conversation.

"Hey Mom…yes I'm fine…yes I'm sorry I was watching a movie with-" Hilary stopped speaking and first her eyes landed on him then together their gaze turned towards the wall clock, fifteen minutes to midnight, "-it has the guy you like so much…no no, I said it has that old actor guy you like so much, not with. Who would be over at this time Mom honestly!" and with that Hilary got up from the couch and exited the living room, not wanting Tyson to hear the rest of the conversation.

Tyson sat stunned. Hilary never lied to her parents. Not even little white lies that Tyson always tried to convince her to use if they were about to do something mischievous, but his best friend had always been a stickler for speaking the truth under any circumstance. So for her to so casually lie about his presence in the house surprised him to no extent. A few long minutes passed before Hilary returned to the living room, looking relieved. She took her spot next to him on the couch, avoiding his gaze and putting a little more distance between them than earlier.

"You lied to your mom." Tyson stated flatly, still pondering over why the Hilary suddenly had a change of stance.

"Would you rather I told them the truth, and dad packed up their bags and came back for your head?" She quipped back, raising her eyebrows challengingly.

"Well no," Tyson replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he flushed slightly.

"It is quite late. They definitely would not agree with a boy staying over at this time, even if it's you."

Tyson had no retort for that. It was true that her parents trusted him quite a bit. Despite of the Kinomiya Dojo not having that great a reputation around town for always hosting loud teens and mysterious foreigners, the Tachibanas liked him enough to let Hilary stay a little bit past her curfew as long as she assured them Tyson would be there the whole time. But him being here when no one was there to supervise them, would definitely alarm her usually laidback parents.

"It is quite late," Hilary repeated again quietly, looking at him pointedly.

"I know," he replied in a similar muted tone, before he turned to look at her, deciding to admit the truth, "I already told Gramps, I'd be staying out tonight." He wasn't sure whether she wanted him to stay or not, he wasn't sure if she was having second thoughts about what had almost happened between and it made his heart sink.

"Oh." Was all she said, he watched as she played with her hair for a little while, tucking it behind her hair then bringing it back to cover her face. She had only gotten into a habit of doing this around him when they started high school and at first Tyson hadn't noticed it much, but she did it more frequently these days so even he had caught hint of it. He cursed himself mentally for being stupid enough to ruin his own intricate plan by acting on his desires. If Hilary was feeling this nervous around him already then there was no way he was about to get an invitation to stay the night now, and he started to think if anybody would catch him if he staked out near her house, just to make sure that she was safe.

"It would be a waste of my first lie, if you were to leave now."

Her voice was barely above a whisper but with the deafening silence that had settled over them, Tyson heard her loud and clear. A smirk spread across his face as he moved closer to her, she didn't inch away, but let her curls fall forward, covering her face in an attempt to hide the blush now taking over. He instantly pushed away the strands and cupped her chin in his palm, making her turn her face in his direction.

"It would be a waste, for us to go back to watching the movie too," Tyson grinned and watched her squirm with embarrassment under his gaze and hold.

With a bated breath he decided to try the whole routine once more, praying inwardly that there would be no more interruptions this time. He tilted her chin slightly upwards, towards him, and when their eyes locked, Tyson felt a jolt run down his entire body. She had been silent and embarrassed this entire time, but her eyes told a completely different story. As he stared into her ruby orbs his heart beat at twice the speed, her eyes were begging, screaming at him to fulfil her and Tyson very wholeheartedly obliged.

When their lips met, instantly Hilary's arms were around him, raking up his back into his hair, where they settled, clutching it tightly. Tyson put his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as it was possible for them to be, their lips caressing each other hungrily. As Tyson shifted one of his hands from her waist to her cheek, Hilary parted her lips allowing him to devour her in full. Tyson wasted no time in pulling her onto his lap and she very quickly straddled herself into positon on top of him, without breaking the kiss. When the need for some air finally pushed them to pull apart, they both gasped, breathing heavily as they continued to stare into the other's eyes, yet to recover from the daze of their actions.

Light flashed outside the window, followed by a loud rumbling noise, seconds after which rain started to fall.

Tyson and Hilary blinked, breaking out of their trance and turning their attention towards the window which was now being splattered with raindrops, the noise of which echoed around the living room.

"Do you think that happened because we…?" Hilary trailed off, shooting a quizzical look in Tyson's direction.

He frowned, obviously surprised by the sudden change in weather but even more amused by the brunette's statement, "You think us making out caused the lightning to strike?"

Hilary met his amused gaze with a shrug, her eyes glinting with excitement as she watched the smug grin spread across his face.

"Well in that case Hils, let's give Bakuten a thunderstorm worth remembering tonight."

-x-

A/N: You know why they stopped after G-rev? Because they knew the sexual tension between an older Tyson and Hilary would not be appropriate for a kids anime about spinning tops.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this and if you have any prompts/suggestions I'll gladly accept them.