Log; Complete

[better-third.livejournal.com]

When; April 15th, evening
Rating; G~
Characters; Masaki {needsmapquest} and Kiyone {better_third}
Summary; Upon hearing that he's returned to the City, Kiyone rushes to see Masaki.
Log;

She couldn't believe he was back.

Couldn't believe he had gone home and had returned... For her, he said. Kiyone was stuck between thankfulness and the urge to call him an idiot for coming back to the City at all. But for now, she settled with being thankful, and promised to meet him at the temple. She allowed shyupo to guide her way, rather than her feet. Flash steps were quicker than regular ones, and speed was her main concern at the moment. A soft crinkling noise accompanied each movement. It was the note in her pocket, the one Masaki had left. She had pocketed it after everyone had read it, wanting some reminder of him in case he didn't come back.
When she reached her destination, Kiyone entered without any hesitation. She knew her way around and quickly found Masaki's door, pausing outside and quietly calling his name.

Five months. Masaki was worried sick. He wondered if Kiyone would hit him or something. Or even worse; say that she had moved on. Ahhhh, what a heart breaker. So he had to be his best! When he heard his name called at the door, he rushed over and opened it, seeing Kiyone's wonderful face. A part of him inside was very happy but still wondered.

Kiyone stood before him, a number of questions, phrases, and names running through her head. Each time she settled on one, she would either deem it ridiculous, or another, better one would take it's place. After a few well-meaning stutters, she gave up, moving forward to wrap her arms around him. "I missed you." ... That worked.

Well, this wasn't the greeting of someone who hated him, so his heart stopped fluttering for the time being. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his body, not wanting to let go. "It's been way to long, Kiyone-chan."

"Mm, it's only been a few days, but it feels like much longer than that," she answered, burying her face in his shoulder. "I didn't think you were going to come back. Isane told me something like this was going to happen, she told me, and then it did, and I'm... I'm so glad you're back."

Masaki put his hand against the back of her head and stroked her back with his other hand. "I told you I always keep my promises, Kiyone-chan. Don't let anyone else say differently." Masaki stopped, content with not doing anything else, comfortable with where he was.

"I won't... Oh!" Kiyone pulled away and stepped back, reaching in her pocket to pull out a crumpled piece of paper, worn and creased from frequent folding and unfolding. She couldn't remember how many times she had read it. "Look! I kept it. After everyone saw it, I took it home. I don't know if you... want it back?"

He took the paper and held it up in the air. He unfolded it and looked at it, turning it over many times. He held it out to Kiyone, a sparkle of a tear in the corner of his eye. "You cared that much to keep this little piece of paper?"

She reclaimed the proffered paper, scanning it just once more. "Yeah... Why wouldn't I?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't know if you cared that much...." He turned for a second, wiping his eye quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Well, of course I do. We're- I'm- Mm." She saw him turn away, wondering at the reason. The urge to ask after it nagged at her, but Kiyone knew that Masaki had a lot of pride, and not wanting to damage it, she let it go. She turned the folded scrap over in her hands a few times. "I guess that means I can keep it?"

Masaki nodded once quickly. "Of course you can! You can have anything else of mine if you want!" He turned around and motioned toward the couch. "I think it would be a bit more comfortable if we sit, don't you think?!" He walked over and plopped himself down at the end of it and patted right beside him.

"Right." Kiyone murmured a quick thank you and returned the note to her pocket. She joined Masaki on the couch, resting more toward the far end than where he had motioned for her to sit.

Masaki's mouth dropped opened. Maybe he was wrong, she did hate him! He had a large problem with mood swings and quickly turned toward a state of being sad but he tried to keep up a good image. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I do something..."

Kiyone tilted her head in confusion and slid a little closer. "No... Why do you ask?"

The green haired boy shook his head once again. "I don't know. I just..." Masaki took a deep breath, steeling himself. "I was just wondering if you were mad at me...for leaving you alone like that. I am sorry. Really sorry."

"Mad at you? No..." She leaned over and placed a reassuring hand on his. "I would never be mad at you for that. I'm... glad, if not a little jealous that you got to go home for even a little while." His brief absence had only deepened her constant longing for home. She tried to keep busy, to dull the homesickness and drown out the ticking. The report she and Nemu had collaborated on filled the void his leaving had created, but only for a little while. As soon as it was done, everything came rushing back. But now that he had returned, she was more grateful for the company than she could possibly say.

With a reassuring smile, he rolled his hand over and grabbed hers and squeezed it gently. "Right after leaving, I felt bad but I had so much to do. I admit that I came back by mistake but I'd rather be here with you right now. Of course, if you left, I would feel really bad too." His smile turned a little silly, a small forewarning of what to come. "I know you aren't mad but if you want, you can punish me."

"Oh, Masaki..." Kiyone moved closer to him, so as to not have to continue leaning over. "I understand if you were needed in your world. That's nothing you should apologize or feel bad for. But I'd feel bad, too, if I left." Not noticing the amusement in his smile, she asked, somewhat confusedly, "Ah... but why would I want to punish you if I'm not angry?"

Masaki let out a small laugh and cupping his chin in between his fore finger and thumb. "Heh. That's not the point. Punishing is always fun if it's done right. But since you've done nothing wrong, I can't show you. I'm not giving you any examples though! You'll have to come up with your own ideas!"

Kiyone laughed. "I'm not sure what kind of punishment you're used to, but whenever I've done something wrong, I've never enjoyed what comes after. But, ah... If you really insist, the only thing I can think of is-" She leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then settled back for his reaction.

Masaki waved his hand. "A good effort but you'll have to try harder! Let me show you!" He dove at Kiyone and started tickling her as fast as he could. "This is how you do it!"

"Please, Masaki! No, please don't!" she yelped. Isane may have been able to complain about getting all the height in the family,

but Kiyone felt her being easily tickled was worse. There had been times when they were younger that Isane would do the same thing, to quell whatever fit or another that Kiyone was having. She hated it. "You have to stop, please!" she implored, trying to get away.

He stopped himself so she could talk with a clear mind instead of worrying about laughing. "See what it's about now?! Besides, it's your turn!" Masaki leaned back a little to prepare himself in case she tried something sneaky.

Kiyone waited until she caught her breath, sides aching from the laughter. She turned and settled back against the couch, folding her arms across her chest. "No."

"What? No?! Well, what do you wanna do then?" Masaki leaned back against the end of the couch, spreading out so he could sit comfortably. "There's a lot of stuff to do around here! But uhhhh, after 5 months, I sorta forgot most of that..."

"I don't know," she answered, dropping her arms, hands moving to fiddle with the hem of her shirt. She smiled and twisted in her seat to face him. "Mm, you forgot all that but you didn't forget me?"

Masaki poked his forehead with his finger. "Heh heh. You see, this mind remembers everything important and last time I checked, you were number one. How can someone forget a person they lov-" He bit his lip to stop himself, not quite sure enough to finish that sentence. But it was out and it set him to worrying once again.

"I am?" Kiyone smiled, somewhere near thrilled to hear that Masaki considered her 'number one.' After years of being number three, albeit in a completely different ranking sysyem, she rather liked coming in first. She thought, though, that in her happiness she mat have missed the last part of what he said. "Ah, a person they what?"

Masaki turned his head to the side, his face flushed red with blood. He stammered a bit before it got out again. “Ahhh, nothing. Don't worry about it. It wasn't really that important. Nope, not at all.”

"No, go ahead." Kiyone leaned forward to try and see his face. He had piqued her curiosity, and she wasn't going to let it go this time. "If it was important enough to start, then I'm sure it's important enough to finish."

He leaned back a bit, trying to stay away from her, but because the couch was small, he was failing miserably. “I just said that uhhh....ummmm....” Masaki fidgeted a little and then dropped his voice really low. “It's just that someone can't forget who they love....”

She reclaimed his hand, having lost hold of it whilst being 'punished.' She didn't question him about it, just simply smiled and said, "I think that was really important, Masaki."

With his free hand, Masaki scratched his head with a queer look in his face. “Uhhhh, really? You think it's important?”

"Mm, of course!" she reassured him. "Why wouldn't I? Anything you have to say to me is important, Masaki."

Masaki sighed in relief. He grabbed her hand with both of his hands and looked her in the eye. “I'm glad you think it's important but yes. I do love you. I realized that when I didn't see you for so long and I missed you a lot! But now that I am seeing you, well...it feels great!”

Kiyone felt the heat rise to her cheeks at his admission. "I- I- Ah..." she trailed off softly. She knew what the expected response was, but everytime she tried to pronounce the words, she failed.

He leaned over a little, getting his face closer to hers. "You...? Was it a problem that I confessed? I don't want to seem too fast or something." Masaki bowed his head twice in quick succession. "If I did, I'm sorry, really!!"

"Ah! No, it was fine! I just... wasn't expecting it, is all." She waved a hand in front of her face, as if trying to brush away the absurdity that she had a problem with what he said. "You should really stop apologizing for things when you haven't done anything wrong."

He grabbed her hand again and looked directly into her eyes. "So there is nothing wrong with me saying it. Well, then what do you think? How do you feel about me." Masaki bit his lip in nervousness. He was hoping for the right answer but if she brushed him off, he would understand it...really.

"I..." She paused for a moment, looking down at his hand clasping hers. A smile slowly spread across her face and she lifted her head to look at him directly. "I feel the same way, Masaki."

With surprising speed, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for the second time that day. "Thank you for saying that. But...but that is why I came back! That's why I didn't want to stay home! It was you and always will be you!"

"Oh... You should have stayed home!" Kiyone said, laughing lightly. "I'm not worth coming back to this place... Um-" She flailed slightly in the embrace. "Ah! Can't breathe, Masaki!"

Masaki sniffed softly and rested his head on Kiyone's shoulder, once again trying to hide what his face showed. "I worried for 5 months. I think you are worth it so don't let anyone else tell you differently, okay!?"

"I won't, I won't! Just... promise me something, hm?" She pulled away, placing one hand on side of his face and moving so that they were eye to eye. "Promise that if you go home again, you won't come back because of me. I'd feel horrible if you did that!"

Masaki closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her hand on his cheek. Sadly, he had to say no to her. "No, I won't promise that because I wouldn't be able to keep it. That's just how it is. But I want you to promise it to me. I might do stupid stuff, but I don't want you doing anything stupid for me."

Kiyone let her hand fall and slid backwards on the couch. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, face set with defiance. "No. If you're not going to promise, then I'm not going to promise."

Masaki crossed his arms and imitated the look on his face as best as he could. "Well, if you aren't going to promise, then I won't promise."

"I swear, you act so sily sometimes, and-" She opened one eye slowly and dropped her arms in offense. "... I do not look like that!"

Masaki opened his eyes and they curled up in amusement. "Yeah you do! It's so..." Masaki suddenly wobbled. That last attack he did before he arrived back in the city had taken a lot out of him. To much. "Whoa...I don't think I feel so..." Masaki's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped off the couch, nearly unconscious.

"Ah! Masaki!" Kiyone leapt forward and leaned over him, shaking one of his shoulders. "Are you alright? Come on, now. Don't play like that! Please..."

"Uuugh," Masaki groaned. His eyes weakly fluttered opened, his vision blurry. "I just need to rest...a...little." Masaki tried to pick himself up off the floor and made it far enough to put his hand on the couch but couldn't pull himself any higher.

"Here, I've got you." She braced herself, feet on the floor, placing arms beneath his to help him onto the couch. "If you were so tired, I could have waited until tomorrow to see you."

Once he was seated, Masaki gave a heavy sigh but still continued to breath hard. "I didn't know it took so much out of me. Sometimes it just hits me real late and then I can't ever do anything. Can I ask you something?"

"You should be more careful. What if you had collapsed outside or something, and someone with ill intent found you? Then what would I do?" Kiyone settled next to him on the edge of the couch, one hand resting lightly on his arm, in case he needed support again. "Mm, of course. You can ask me anything."

He replied with a pitiful smile. "That's why I didn't, right? And ummm...can you please stay here tonight with me? It kinda sucks being alone and like this..."

Kiyone returned the smile, her hand moving to find his. She didn't like to be alone when she wasn't feeling well either, so there was no chance she was going to leave him by himself. "If you really want me to, then yeah... I will."

"Mm, thank you." Masaki gave her a genuine smile, glad that she did care about him. "Right now, I think the best thing for me is to sleep. I mean, that is always what they told me to do when this happened to me."

"Ah, then that's what you should do." She slid into a crouch on the floor, allowing him room to lie down. "There. Plenty of space, now."

Masaki was still a pervert, even when he was nearly out of energy. "Hey, Kiyone. I'm sort of cold. Can you help me keep warm? Like maybe..." He forced himself to slide over a little.

"Mm, I know what to do." She stood and reached past him, retrieving a folded blanket from the back of the couch. She shook it out to its full size and spread it over him, covering him up to the chin. "Better?"

Masaki flailed inside, only because he didn't have enough energy to do it in reality. "Awwww, not really. It's kinda hard to keep warm when you aren't feeling well..."

Kiyone reclaimed her spot on the edge of the couch. "I could go find another blanket if you'd like. Or I could make some tea. That might warm you up, hm?"

Masaki nearly rolled his eyes. He sort of wondered how much it would take. So he looked up at Kiyone with a pair of puppy dog eyes. "How about you lay right here beside me. I'm sure that'll work best."

She narrowed her eyes, knowing that's what he had been after the entire time."... Fine. But if you try anything, I swear I'll-" Her threat was made teasingly, and with a smile. Having fallen asleep next to him before, Kiyone knew he would do nothing but sleep.

Masaki opened up the blanket a little. "Heh, I'll do what I can!" Right now, of course, that meant sleep because he was dead tired.

"You'll sleep, Masaki," she said, taking a corner of the blanket and sliding closer so that it covered her. "And so will I."

With the end finally hitting him, Masaki wavered a little and closed his eyes. "Kiyone...you know what? I'm glad we're together. I will always...." Masaki's voice dropped off as exhaustion over took him and he feel asleep, warm and comfortable beside Kiyone.

Kiyone smiled and lay her head against his shoulder, pulling the blanket up to her own chin. "Mm, I'm glad. too," she replied to no one.