tampered | Log; Completed

Log; Completed

When; December 9th
Rating; uhhh no idea. PG-13
Characters; Naoto [

naoto_two] and Rob Lucci [

gtfoplzkthnx]
Summary; They accidentally run into each other; Lucci hasn’t seen her for two weeks. For Naoto, it has been two years.
Log;

Fucking snow.

Lucci stepped into the hall of building 9 and immediately felt the warmth of the complex wash over him; it was cold outside and he had been dying to get inside. Why did he go out anyway? He hated the cold, the ridiculously ecstatic faces over some white powder and he especially didn’t like the snowballs flying around. Stupid citizens and their childish antics.

He blew into his hands while walking towards his apartment; the pigeon on his shoulder shook the snow from its feathers with a gentle coo. Lucci glanced irritated at Hattori when said snow ended up in his face while he was digging through his pockets.

Now where were those damn keys?

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Naoto peered out at the unfamiliar landscape from her window. The city of her world had no more seasons, so seeing snow for the first time was an amazing phenomenon. She decided that even though it was freezing cold, the snow made up for it. It was rather pretty to look at, the woman decided.

Ah, she remembered suddenly, I need groceries.

She had cleaned out her kitchen the night before she left, not knowing how long she would be gone. According to her friends, she had only been gone two weeks, but it had taken two years for her to track down and kill her parents' murderer. She didn't feel like she had changed... but maybe she had.

In any case, she had to restock her food supply. Wrapping herself in a coat and scarf, and with her trusty sword slung around her shoulder, she unlocked her door and stepped into the hallway.

The sound of a door opening next to where he stood caught Lucci's attention. He knew very well whose apartment it was, but he hadn’t seen the owner for a few weeks. His neigbour's sudden disappearance had surprised and aggravated him greatly, but he had to admit that he had missed her.

So when Naoto stepped out of her apartment, he didn’t look at her, but he couldn’t resist a slight smile of recognition, even though he was somewhat annoyed with the situation.

The last thing he needed right now was more drama.

A certain pigeon's coo, a sound both strange and terribly familiar, brought Naoto's attention to the man just a few feet away. The woman's content expression quickly set into indifference. She closed her door and locked it, somewhat unnerved when Lucci continued to stand, unmoving.

Naoto swiftly turned and started down the hall, needing to pass Lucci to get to the main lobby, but determined not to greet or even look at him. She had things to do. She was not going to waste time on him.

On the other hand...he wanted her to know how much her attitude displeased him. He wanted her to know what the hell she was doing, playing with his feelings like that. And yes, he did have feelings; contrary to popular opinion. Although they were pretty much absent most of the time.

He quickly spun around and grabbed her wrist with a mocking smile.

"I would've at least expected a cold greeting or a slap in the face. Did you lose your manners in the time that you were away?"

Sighing, Naoto tried to jerk her arm away, but his grip on her wrist was vice-like. So, setting her jaw, she turned to face Lucci. She'd just have to deal with him, she supposed. Maybe then he'd leave her alone.

Then, without warning, she raised her other hand and struck him across the face with her palm.

"There. Are you happy now?" she said coldly.

"That's even better than I expected." he sneered.

Damn, she'd gotten stronger in those two weeks; it felt like his cheek was on fire. Still, that was not going to keep him from getting his point across, so he grabbed her other wrist and pressed her against the wall while grinning wickedly.

"Such a touching meeting after those two weeks." he said, his face only inches away from hers. “How long has it been for you? Days? Months?”

Naoto struggled to free herself, but to no avail; she just had to put up with whatever he wanted, for the meantime. She forced herself to glare back, to not look anywhere but into his cocky face. She wasn't going to let him think he was the better.

"Years, thanks," she replied, a note of sarcasm in her voice. "Perhaps two years of tracking a killer will dull one's sense of courtesy. You could use some lessons yourself; I don't consider this situation very touching."

"Oh, but I do." Lucci grinned, knowing that he had the upper hand; and he was very much enjoying that fact.

"So you managed to kill whoever you wanted to kill? Great job.” he added sarcastically; he couldn’t care less about her petty "dream" to kill her parents’ murderer. "Two years and you’re still bitter towards me. Why is that?"

"You know why."

And he did. He should, anyway, and if he didn't, then that was all the more reason to act coldly towards him. Naoto was perhaps the expert on long grudges: it had taken her a little more than ten years to find and kill that person who ruined her life.

And here was another one. Here was the man who had broken her heart.

"I loved you. I still do," she continued in a quieter voice, "and I hate it because it's pointless. I hate you because you made it pointless."

She'd spoken the obvious, how could he possibly have expected anything else?

Lucci found it sad; holding on to such a fragile illusion for another two years. But he himself knew darn well that it wasn't a fragile illusion at all. He just didn’t want to say it for a long time, actually, he didn't even know how. But she wanted to hear it, right? Then she was going to get what she wanted.

"Well then, let me tell you a little secret." he whispered. "That feeling is mutual. In fact, I’ve really missed you during those two weeks."

He suddenly let go of her and took a step backwards. "But, since you apparently hate me, let's forget what I just said. You can go, I won't bother you any longer." he said with a sly grin, while turning towards his apartment door.

What?

Naoto's facial expression changed from a glower to wide-eyed shock to sudden regret. She couldn't move even as Lucci let go of her and stepped away.

But then she began to cry, and the blur of her vision, the man's fading silhouette, snapped her from her frozen state and broke her down. Naoto pushed herself off the wall and took staggering steps towards Lucci. She grabbed onto his sleeve.

"No," she choked. "No, wait." She didn't understand. How did this happen so fast? Or had he loved her all along and only denied it to protect his reputation?

"When did...?"

Lucci heard her sobbing behind his back, and to his own surprise, he didn't really care. It was kind of funny; just seconds ago she would've probably kicked him in the nuts if she wanted, now she was crying and begging for him to wait.

Power. Such a wonderful thing.

"When did what?" he asked, while stopping and turning around to look at her. "When did I realize I loved you?"

It felt like he had said something really disgusting; the word felt foreign on his lips.

"I don't know. Probably when you decided you hated me and you just left without a proper goodbye." he shrugged. "It isn't important. You hate me anyway, which is most likely understandable."

He turned around again and resumed his search for his keys.

Naoto's anger flared suddenly, and she grabbed his shoulder, turned him around, and snatched his coat labels. She was glaring up at him, and she felt that much smaller and weaker, but at that moment she didn't care.

"Don't play with me, Rob Lucci," she snarled. "Yes, I hated you. I hated you because I thought I had been such a foolish girl to have fallen for a heartless bastard like yourself. So over two years' time that bitterness grew until it really was hate."

Her grip on him loosened somewhat at her next words.

"But," she continued, "I'm not as foolish, and you're not as heartless, as I thought, it seems. I told you," and here she lowered her gaze to the floor and rested her forehead against his chest, "I still do love you."

Well, this was the Naoto he knew.

As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. And despite his irritation and slight amusement, he somewhat...pitied her. Maybe he had been wrong about everything.

Maybe.

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, while closing his eyes with a sigh.

"I'm sorry."

It was so oddly comforting to be in his embrace again. Naoto allowed herself a smile at his apology, feeling victorious -- even if it was just a little bit. This is what she'd wanted for so long.

Naoto raised her head and kissed him briefly.

"You're forgiven."

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Log; Completed

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